Never is a Promise
by Windy
Summary: COMPLETE! A student teacher comes to Hogwarts and starts a war with our beloved potions master. But what happens when they are forced into a truce? Please review! SEQUEL: Hiding in a Lie
1. Welcome to Hogwarts

Note: Starts out in October of the trio's 5th year and Voldemort is on the rise.

I also need a Beta is anyone is interested…lemme know!

**Chapter One**

It was nearly dark when she apparated outside the gate of the giant castle. The cool fall breeze rustled her cloak as she watched a large figure approach.

"You must be the American. Dumbledore's been expecting you." Hagrid smiled as he unlocked the gate. Alex couldn't help but smile back as she stepped inside the gate. 

"Well this way then." Hagrid said and they started down the path towards the school. Hagrid chatted happily about the great man the Headmaster was and how amazing the school was. Alex could only find herself half-listening as the butterflies started up in her stomach as the neared the towering school. At night, it almost looked threatening except for the warm flicker of candles coming from many of the windows. They entered the school and she couldn't help but be impressed as they mad their way through the vast hallways. Suddenly, Hagrid stopped almost causing Alex to crash into him. He grinned down at her but then turned to the large gargoyle in the archway.

"Lemon drop." He said. Alex shot him a quizzical look but then understood as a large staircase formed. 

"Go on now. He's expecting you." Hagrid encouraged. 

"Thank you." Alex said and stepped onto the stairs, riding it up like a muggle escalator. At the top was a large wooden door. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm the butterflies that were doing an old-fashioned waltz through her insides.

'Okay Alex, you can do this. It's no biggie. Just be your bright and charming self.' Alex thought in encouragement to herself. Just as she was about to knock she heard a warm voice yell out

"Come in!" Alex pushed open the door and entered the room, which was warmly lit with candles. Looking around, she quickly took in the giant bookcases filled with all types of books. Her gaze fell into the middle of the room where an elderly wizard sat behind a large wood desk in a worn armchair. Alex stepped forward, pushing her hood down away from her face.

"Headmaster, I am Alex Harper." She said gently. Dumbledore studied her closely for a moment.

"Well I'm an old fool." He finally said, chuckling lightly. He waved his hand in indication for her to take a seat. Alex settled down in one of the chairs as Dumbledore continued on.

"It seems that I was under the impression that you were…"

"Male?" Alex interrupted. "I get that a lot. My full name is Alexandra but I prefer Alex. This isn't a problem is it?" Alex was worried that maybe because she was female, the position as a student teacher for potions would no longer be open for her.

"No, of course not. It's just a surprise and a pleasant one at that." Dumbledore stated kindly with a twinkle in his eye. Alex let out a sigh and instantly relaxed, leaning back into the chair, her butterflies disappearing. 

"Well as you know, school has already been in session for a month now." Dumbledore stated.

"Yes. I was wondering why you sent for me now and not at the beginning of the term." Alex inquired. It was odd for the position to start so late since all the other students in student teacher positions had already started a month ago back in the U.S. 

"Well we needed some time to prepare for your arrival. But enough of that. You'll probably want to freshen up before dinner. Shall I escort you to your room?" Dumbledore suggested. He wished to avoid going to topics that may leads to talk of the oncoming war, since the reason her arrival was delayed was due to the increase in security at the school in preparations of what was expected to come.

"All right." Alex agreed, liking the idea of changing out of her travel clothes. She also wanted to check on her luggage to make sure everything had gotten there okay since it was sent ahead of her. She stood up from the chair and allowed Dumbledore to escort her down the stairs. They made their way through a maze of hallways and staircases. Or at least it seemed like a maze to her. Finally Dumbledore came to a halt at the end of one of the hallways. 

"This is your room here." He said indicating to a large portrait of two ladies sitting in a garden. The both looked up and smiled warmly at Alex, giving a polite wave. "The staircase here leads to the dungeons where the potions classes are taught." Alex looked at the stairwell to her left and noticed how dark and foreboding it seemed. 

"May I ask when I will meet the Potions Master?" Alex asked turning back to Dumbledore, somewhat excited to meet the man she would be working with.

"Most likely at dinner, which is in about an hour. The Great Hall is near the front entrance, where you came in. Should I send someone to escort you?" Dumbledore asked, tucking his arms into his sleeves as he peered at her through his half-moon spectacles.

"No, that's all right. I think I should be able to find it." Alex assured him with a slight smile.

"Well, if you get lost just ask one of the students. Preferably _not _the ones with the green symbol since many of them may find it humorous to give you wrong directions." He said. Alex nodded in reply, understanding how children could be. "Well, I will see you at dinner, Alex, and welcome to Hogwarts." He disappeared around a corner, leaving Alex alone with the two women in the painting. This is going to be one exciting adventure.

"What would you like the password to be, Miss?" one of them asked bringing Alex out of her thoughts.

"Umm… the password can be white roses. It's my favorite flower." Alex stated. "And please, just call me Alex." The two women nodded and the portrait swung open.

Alex walked over to the small sofa and laid her traveling cloak over the back of it. The fireplace was lit, casting a warm glow over the room. Walking over to the corner, Alex studied the oak writing desk where an inkwell and feather quill was already set out for her. Her trunks were set at the foot of the large canopy bed against the far wall. The room was small, compared to the usual living quarters of the Professors, but it was perfect for Alex. What she liked most was the colors that everything was decorated in. The bed was covered in dark shades of blues and purples while the sofa and armchair was a dark green. 

Alex smiled tiredly to herself. Traveling didn't suit her well and all she wanted to do was flop down on the bed and fall asleep but she somehow had to dig up enough energy to make it through dinner. She unlocked her trunks with a quick incantation and began digging through the contents, looking for something suitable to wear to dinner. Pulling out an article of clothing, she quickly went into the bathroom and changed, resisting the temptation to try out the large porcelain bathtub that she found inside the room. 

Pulling her hair out of the twist, she moved back into the bedroom and stood in front of the large mirror. Her reddish-blonde hair fell past her shoulders in soft waves. She studied her reflection carefully, smoothing her hands over the knee length black dress that she had chosen to wear. Happy with how it fit, she moved over to the bed and quickly pulled on a pair of black suede knee-high boots then continued to make some small touchups to her makeup.

"You look stunning dear, but you do realize that you're late?" the mirror said.

"Shit!" Alex swore. She threw on her black dress robe, leaving it unclasped and bolted out the door.

Next Chapter: 1st encounter with Snape. Will they get along or become instant enemies? Just remember…if you review you find out faster ;)


	2. But Headmaster, she’s a woman!

PonyLuvrGurl- Thank you so much! I am happy that you like my character! I have been working hard on developing here so that she's not a total Mary Sue. 

Linda- Ask and you shall receive! Here's another Chapter!

Stargurl- whoa! Have you read my mind or something? LOL

Weaselgirl- You best get your story up!!!! Oh and have I got some news for you! I'll give you a call today!

Thanks everyone for reviewing and I still need a Beta Reader is anyone is interested…. lemme know!! Cause the quicker I get a beta…. the quicker I post up the chapters I have done. I am up to chapter eight!!!! Now onto the story!!!!!

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Chapter Two

Alex walked briskly through the halls, praying that she was going in the right direction. It didn't take her long to realize that she was truly lost, having taken the wrong turn when exiting her room.

"This is a great first impression, Alex!" she stated, rather annoyed at herself. Dinner had probably already started and she could just imagine the embarrassment she was going to feel, walking into the Great Hall so late. Just when she was about to give up, she heard voices. Quickly, she ran in the direction they were coming from and after rounding a corner, she saw two boys and a girl arguing lightly with each other about getting in trouble for being late. At least she wasn't the only one.

"Excuse me, you're not going to the Great Hall by any chance, are you?" Alex asked catching the students attention.

"Yes we are." Hermione said surprised at seeing the stranger in the hallway.

"Mind if I join you three on the walk there? It seems that I have gotten myself lost, which is not very surprising." Alex asked.

"Sure but who are you?" Harry asked.

"Oh sorry. I'm Alex Harper." Alex said. 

"I'm Harry Potter and this is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley." Harry said pointing to the two others with him. Alex smiled at each and they started making their way through the hallways.

"Are you a new student?" Ron asked. Alex let out a light laugh and shook her head.

"No. I actually graduated about five years ago."

"From Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"Again no. A small wizarding institute in the States." Alex explained.

"Well you can't be a new professor because we started classes weeks ago." Harry stated.

"You're right. I'm not a professor. But I am sure that the Headmaster will explain my presence at dinner." Alex said. They arrived at the Great Hall and quickly snuck inside. Alex actually hadn't been that far from the room then she had thought. Dinner had already been served and not many noticed the presence of the four creeping in late since most were either busy shoving food into their mouths or in deep conversations with the people around them. But there was one that did notice, and quickly got up from the table, heading towards the group

"This place is awesome!" Alex cried out looking up at the ceiling, moving a bit away from the students as she studied the decorations of the room. The school she graduated from didn't have anything like this!

"You three are late." An angry voice stated, stepping in front of the three students. Alex looked over and found a dark-haired professor looming over the trio that had escorted her to dinner. Seeing that they were about to get in trouble, Alex headed over.

"Excuse me, professor, but it is my fault that they are late. I had gotten lost and they were kind enough to escort me to dinner." Alex said stepping forward. Snape's eyes settled on the young woman in front of him.

"And just who might you be? He asked coldly.

"Severus, I would like you to meet Alex Harper. Your student teacher." Dumbledore spoke up from the head table, a few feet away. Snape's jaw dropped.

"But Headmaster, she's a woman!" he cried out.

"Glad you noticed." Alex stated under her breath. Was everyone here under the impression that she was a man? He obviously heard because his gaze settled back on her. She felt his eyes boring into hers and she supposed he was trying to intimidate her as if she was one of his students. Alex met his gaze evenly and raised an eyebrow, trying her best not to laugh.

"Is this going to be a problem, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, quite amused by the display.

"No Headmaster." Snape stated and walked back to his seat.

"Thanks." Harry whispered. She had gotten them out of trouble. Alex turned her gaze from Snape to look at the trio.

"No problem." Alex grinned and headed up towards the table. Scanning the chairs, she spied the only empty one was between Snape and another female professor. Oh what luck! She caught the girl's eye and they both shared a grin. Alex moved up and took her seat blatantly ignoring the dark looks coming from the Potions Master next to her. Instead she turned to the professor next to her.

"Hi. I'm Alex Harper." She smiled warmly.

"Lia Black." Lia said returning the grin.

"So are you a professor here?" Alex asked as she piled some mashed potatoes onto her plate. She set the serving bowl down next to her, taking away some of the elbowroom from Snape, making him glare at her even more darkly. Alex was quite aware of the pair of eyes boring into the back of her head but tried her best to ignore it while hiding a grin.

"Yes. I teach Muggle Studies." Lia said, casting an odd look towards Snape.

"Really? I love Muggles but I can't imagine living without magic." Alex stated. Snape, who had obviously been listening, let out a snort. Alex just rolled her eyes but bit her tongue to keep from making some comment that would probably get her into more trouble then she was already in. She still had to work with the man, after all.

"I can't place your accent. Where are you from?" Lia asked.

"The States. I am just finishing up my degree at Bragge College of Advanced Magical Studies, which is in Chicago." Alex said.

"Wow. You're far from home, then." Lia stated as she cut up portions of her food.

"Yeah I guess. I don't really get homesick though." Alex shrugged and took a drink of the pumpkin juice, which she was surprised she liked since she wasn't a fan of food made with any type of squash.

"So how did you get the student teacher position?" Lia asked between bites of food.

"I was recommended by the Potions Master at school when Dumbledore inquired about doing an overseas program." Alex explained then proceeded to finish off her dinner. Finally done, she stood from her seat.

"Well Lia, it was a please meeting you but I have a ton of unpacking to do before bed." Alex said straightening out her robes.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Alex." Lia smiled looking up from the remains of her dinner.

"Goodnight." Alex said and slipped out of the Great Hall, heading towards her room. Luckily enough, she remembered the way this time and was just nearing her room when she heard footsteps echoing behind her.

"Miss Harper." A deep voice called out. Turning around she saw Snape heading towards her with his cloak billowing out behind him. He looked an awful lot like an overgrown bat. Almost reminded her of the muggle comic character, Batman, but she could hardly imagine him crying out 'To the Batmobile, Robin!'

"Can I help you?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow trying to erase any amusement from her face that had been caused by her thoughts.

"Class starts at 8 am. And please try to wear something that is more appropriate" Snape said coldly and then turned down the stairs to the dungeons. Alex looked down at him in outrage.

"There happens to be nothing wrong with how I'm dressed, Professor!" Alex yelled after him but if he had heard, he gave no indication since he was already out of sight. Assuming that the comment was probably just to get a rise out of her, she let out a sigh and entered her room to begin to work on unpacking her trunks before retiring for the night.

Next Chapter: Alex's first potion's class and the drama that ensues

Please review!!!!!!!!


	3. Do you think I’m that big of a moron

I decided to put up another chapter. Lemme know hat you all think so far!!!! I still need a beta too

**Chapter Three**

            It was only 7:30 in the morning when Alex made her way down the stairs into the dungeons. She had dressed in jeans and a pale blue shirt with navy blue robes over it, even though she was half-tempted to dress in something that Snape would find inappropriate. She chose not too since she was hoping that maybe they had just started out on the wrong foot. Nothing like a new day for a new start, _right_? 

The classroom door was open and Alex leaned on the wooden doorframe watching Snape as he set up for the first class of the day. He really wasn't that bad looking when you got past the horrible personality. Yes his hair look greasy but Alex knew that it was more limp then greasy due to standing over the steaming cauldrons all day. That was why she always wore her hair pulled back while working. It would also probably help if he had some better air circulation in the room. It was humid as all hell!

            "Are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to help?" Snape said not even looking up from his work. Alex, slightly startled at being caught, moved into the classroom.

            "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

            "Start crushing those snake fangs. You will be instructing the class on making a simple sleeping potion." Snape said as he set up a cauldron in front of the classroom.

            "Me?" Alex asked looking at him in surprise. That was the last thing she had expected. She thought he would be having her take roll and stand around, being bored out of her mind. 

            "Yes you, Miss. Harper." Snape snapped coldly as he placed some glass vials on the table.

            "Well I thought…" Alex started hesitantly.

            "You thought what?" He said whirling around, catching her in a cold stare.

            "Nothing." Alex replied curtly, moving to the table to start on the snake fangs. Now was definitely not the time to start questioning him.

            "If you do not feel that you are up to the task…" Snape smirked as he watched her pour out some snake fangs on the table.

            "I never said that!" Alex snapped, facing him with defiance clearly etched over her features. So much for a new start. Just then the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins came filing into the classroom. Snape moved to stand by the door, missing the dirty look Alex flashed him as she ground up the needed amount of snake fangs for the demonstration, imagining that it was his arrogant face that she was grounding up. 

Alex quickly finished the tedious task, quite happy with the quality of the powder that the fangs were now transformed into. Looking up, she made eye contact with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and gave them a warm smile as she wiped her hands off on her robes. She could see that many people did not like the potions class, especially a slightly chubby boy towards the front who was nervously looking through her notes. Alex could imagine that she would probably be the same way if Snape were her Professor. 

Another Gryffindor that caught her eye was a dark-haired girl sitting with her feet propped up on the desk, her red and gold stripped socks showing from underneath her school robes. Now this was a girl who didn't take anything from anyone. Alex could feel someone watching her, and met eyes with a tall Slytherin girl that was regarding her with cold eyes. Yes, Slytherin was definitely the house to watch out for. No wonder why Snape was their head! Most of them seemed like the arrogant prick that he was. Especially the blonde boy laughing cruelly along with some of his friends. Well, you couldn't really call the noise that his friends were making, laughter. It was more like short grunts. 

The door slammed closed, startling Alex slightly. Snape moved to the front of the room, sending a look that silenced each and every student. Alex took this as the signal that class was starting. 

            "Today you will be learning how to make a sleeping potion. Miss. Harper, a student teacher from America, will be demonstrating how. I expect all of you to take extensive notes since you will be tested on this in the very short future." Snape said, studying each student to see if they were all paying attention. Alex could see the students muffle their groans and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Snape shot them all another dark look, silencing the noise. His eyes fell upon the Gryffindor side. 

            "Miss. Black! Feet on the floor as I have been telling you for the past five years! And change those ridiculous socks!" Snape growled out. Ayla Black rolled her eyes and let her feet fall to the ground with a loud bang.

            "Miss Harper, I believe the class is now yours." Snape said and moved to lean against the wall by the door.

            "Thank you Professor." Alex said forcing a smile in his direction. "Now a sleeping draught is actually not that hard of a potion to make." Alex stated to the class, pausing as they all pulled out some parchment and quills in order to take notes. Alex went on explaining the first half of the instructions without fault. It was when she was about to add in some powdered root of asphodel that she realized that something was wrong. What she held was aconite, which would cause the potion to turn into the draught of living death instead of a harmless sleeping draught. She stopped, looking at the bottle in confusion. Where did this come from? There was no reason for it to be with the rest of the ingredients.

            "Is there a problem, Miss. Harper?" Snape asked from the corner, watching her closely. Alex looked up at him and saw that he looked at her as if he was eager for her to mess up.

            "No. Everything's fine." Alex said quickly realizing that he had purposely put the aconite with the other ingredients. Placing the bottle off to the side, she continued on with the lesson. Soon, the class was over and the last student filed out of the classroom. Alex turned to Snape and looked at him with such intensity and anger, that if looks could kill he would be six feet under.

            "I supposed you think that you're rather funny." Alex stated, ice in her voice.

            "I have no clue what you are talking about." Snape said as he started to clean up from the class. Alex picked up the bottle of aconite and practically shoved it in his face. She was pissed and it wasn't going to be pretty.

            "Do you think I'm that big of a moron that I wouldn't know what this is? Do you hate me so much that you want to humiliate me in front of the students? And what if I had made the draught of living death and ended up testing it on one of the students? What then?!" Alex shouted looking up into his face. Snape only looked at her then proceeded to push past her.

            "I have the antidote on hand. There would have been no damage if that had happened. But it didn't, so I don't see why you are so upset about it." Snape stated as if the welfare of his students were of no difference to him. Alex stared at him in utter shock and disgust. This man was supposed to be a Professor?! Unable to look at him any longer, she stormed out of the room before she said or did something she would regret.

Please review!!

Next chapter: Alex makes plans for revenge


	4. Now the question, Alex, is what you are ...

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. Lemme know what you think about this new chapter!!

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Chapter Four

Alex was storming through the halls, fury written all over her face. How could he have done that? She actually felt embarrassed even though the only one who knew of the mix up was Snape. The fact that he would go and purposely try to sabotage her drove her up the wall! What did she do to offend the man? He probably thought that she intended on deceiving him into thinking that she was actually a man in order to get the position. The absolute nerve!!

"Alex? What's wrong?" Lia asked seeing the girl pacing the hallway.

"He's a total bastard! He has no respect for anyone or anything!" Alex cried out in rage, her gray eyes flashing. Lia exchanged a mildly amused look with a woman with short blonde hair.

"I presume that you mean Severus." Lia stated with a smile tugging at her lips.

"Who else could fit that title?" Alex scoffed.

"May I ask what he did?" Lia chuckled.

"Let's see. First he switched one of the ingredients in the potion that I was teaching the class. If I hadn't noticed, someone could have gotten hurt! And then, did he show one once of remorse? Of course not! He just calmly states that he had the stupid antidote on hand." Alex yelled with her hand flailing about as she spoke out of exasperation.

"Sounds like Severus all right." The blonde laughed. "I'm Fiona, by the way."

"Alex Harper." Alex said, starting to calm down.

"This doesn't really surprise us. He's been like this since he was a boy, a spoiled self-centered little git." Lia said.

"A boy? Are you two telling me that you grew up with that poor excuse for a man?!" Alex asked in shock.

"Yes. We had the unpleasant torture of spending seven years with him but none worse then this girl here dating him." Fiona laughed, nudging Lia in the side.

"Lia! Are you serious?" Alex laughed, picturing the Potions Master and Lia as children, dating.

"I felt sorry for the boy." Lia grinned. 

"Sure you did." Fiona said rolling her eyes. Lia chose not to comment further and turned back to Alex.

"Did you want to come with us to the kitchen's? We were going to grab a quick snack before the next class." Lia offered. Alex grinned thankfully.

"That's be great." The three girls headed down to the kitchens with Alex filling them in on a more detailed version of what happened during the class. 

"What I don't understand is why he's picking on you like that. I mean, you didn't do anything to him, did you?" Fiona asked as she reached out to tickle the pear. The door swung open, revealing the kitchen along with the house elves, as they scurried around preparing dinner for that evening. One small elf appeared in front of the three women.

"What can Dobby get for you Misses?" Dobby squeaked out. All three women ordered sandwiches and pumpkin juice, moving to sit at an empty table in the corner.

"I didn't do anything to the man except being a woman when he thought that I was a man." Alex stated continuing the conversation.

"Hmm…that doesn't seem enough to get him to actually attempt sabotage like he did." Lia said, biting down on her bottom lip as she thought.

"Well I also stuck up for Harry and his friends yesterday." Alex said. Other then that, there had been no other real confrontation with the professor.

"That's it then. It's well known that Sev hates Harry. You sticking up for Harry, must have angered him somehow. Then again, it is easily done. In school, he would always get mad at any little thing that one of us would do." Fiona said before taking a bite of the sandwich that had been placed in front of her.

"Yes but James and Sirius would always egg him on. It went both ways." Lia argued.

"Why are you defending him, Lia? The man is a spoiled, arrogant little git." Fiona stated rather firmly.

"I do hope that you're not talking about me." A voice laughed. All three women looked up to see Remus Lupin standing next to them.

"Of course not Remus! You're the exact opposite of that, actually." Lia smiled warmly. Remus took a seat at the table.

"Then may I ask who is worthy of such a harsh title?" he inquired sneaking a bit of Alex's sandwich. She glared mockingly at him but continued eating her lunch not really minding sharing with the other professor.

"Who else. Severus." Fiona said.

"Ah! I see. What did our infamous potions master do this time?" Remus asked, sitting back in his chair.

"Only attempt to sabotage and humiliate Alex in class today." Lia said as if it was nothing. Remus just shook his head and sighed.

"Why does that not surprise me?" 

"So from what I understand from all of you, he does this a lot." Alex stated, studying the three faces seated around the table.

"Actually, I don't think he has gotten this childish since our school days. But yes, this is typical Snape behavior. When I taught DADA a couple years ago, he exposed me for being a werewolf. Worked bloody hard at it too!" Remus stated. 

"Now the question, Alex, is what you are going to do about it." Fiona said pushing her empty plate away, which was quickly taken away by one of the house elves.

"What do you mean do about it? What can I do?" Alex questioned.

"You know, someone once told me that revenge is sweet. What do you say Alex? Want revenge on the overgrown bat?" Fiona smirked. Lia and Remus exchanged wary looks.

"What do you suggest?" Alex grinned. The two leaned in close and started planning along with a few ideas and comments from the other two professors. Revenge was going to be sweet, indeed!

Next Chapter: REVENGE!!!!!


	5. Whatever you say Stanley!

To my reviewers: Thank you for your comments. It's you that makes me post chapters up faster! I hope you enjoy this one.

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Chapter Five

Alex soon found herself heading back to the dungeons for the next class. It hadn't taken long to come up with a plan and the group had finished up lunch by sharing storied of their school days. It was a long walk back to the potion's classroom but along the way Alex found herself talking to herself in her head.

'Just remember to keep your head. Don't let him see how much he bugs you, Alex! If he see, he has the advantage over you. Just play it off like nothing ever happened.' 

She reached the dreaded classroom before she even realized it. Taking a calming breath, she pushed the door open firmly, walking inside like she hadn't a care in the world. Snape looked up from his desk as she walked inside, obviously waiting for another outburst. She refused to give him the privilege.

"Am I to be teaching the next class as well?" Alex asked calmly, standing in front of him. Her eyes met his evenly and she refused to back down and be intimidated by him. He was just a big bully.

"No. The second years will be making an aging potion and they have already been given the instructions how." Snape said studying her carefully, trying to sense if she was up to something. He couldn't really tell since she effectively hid all emotions from him. Snape was slightly impressed since he hadn't seen someone hide their emotions that well since, well… him.

"So we will be supervising and basically making sure they won't blow up the classroom?" Alex continued, bring Severus out of his thoughts. He nodded briefly and soon the young Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's quickly began filing into the room, in efforts to not be late. It didn't take long for them all to get started on the aging potion. Most were prepared ahead of time and everything seemed to be going over smoothly. 

Alex was walking around the room watching the students attempt to make the potion, following the notes they had taken in a previous class. Wandering over to the Hufflepuff side, she noticed one young student about to add in some dandelion roots that were not nearly chopped small enough. Moving quickly, Alex stopped the boy without causing much distraction from the others around him. The last thing they needed was to loose more house points. Snape had taken off enough already.

"If you add those like that, your potion will be ruined." She said gently. The boy looked up at her with wide eyes, waiting for her to start yelling like Snape usually did. Instead, Alex took the cutting knife and began to show him the proper way to chop the dandelion roots. The boy relaxed after a moment, realizing that he wasn't about to get in trouble.

"What's your name?" Alex asked, handing him the knife in order to let him finish.

"Thomas Finley." Tommy said but froze as he caught sight of something over Alex's shoulder.

"Is there a problem here?" Snape asked coldly. Alex turned around.

"Nope. Tommy and I were just talking." Alex stated casually as she brushed a stray hair out of her face.

"There is to be no talking. Get back to work, Mr. Finley!" Snape shot out. Tommy quickly started chopping away at the roots like Alex had showed him. As she started to move away, Alex could feel Snape's dark eyes boring into her head.

"It's called being nice, Professor." She sighed impatiently, feeling the need to defend her actions.

"_Nice_? It is not your job to be _nice_, Miss. Harper." Snape sneered as if the very idea of being nice to a student was ludicrous. Unfortunately the two had different ideas on teaching tactics.

"Well it's obviously not your job either since you don't seem to have a nice bone in your body!" Alex retorted, glaring hard at him.

"Your job is to observe the class and, as you put it so eloquently before, make sure they don't blow it up." Snape continued as if he never heard the insult.

"Whatever you say…Stanley." Alex smirked as she began to walk to the other side of the room. Snape, suddenly furious, quickly grabbed Alex's arm and held her close to him as he whispered harshly into her ear.

"I do not know how exactly you know my middle name, Miss. Harper, but you will refrain from using it now on." Alex couldn't help but let out an involuntary shiver as his warm breath drifted over her face. His fingers were digging into her arm, making her grimace in pain.

"One… you deserved it. Two… I think it's cute. And three…we have an audience." Alex stated. Snape looked up and saw the students staring at them, wondering what was going on. He released Alex's arm and she quickly moved away from him, rubbing her arm gingerly. They both shared an identical look that said 'this means war.'

Please review!!!!! It only takes 2 seconds!

Next Chapter: Snape retaliates! What does the Potions Master have up his sleeve?


	6. No one calls me Alexandra!

Author's Note: Okay so I decided to post this one up too. PLEASE let me know what you think so far. Especially if you have any suggestions. I live for reviews. Now read, enjoy, and review.

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Chapter Six

It had been two weeks since Alex and Snape had declared war on each other. Alex knew that Snape was up to something. He had stubbornly questioned Lia, Fiona, and Remus about how she had learned his middle name, since they were the few who had known it. She caught him watching her during mealtimes and throughout the daily classes. His eyes always seemed calculating and the silent interrogation unnerved her greatly. He was definitely up to something.

Within these past two weeks, tension had noticeably increased between the two. They were always openly fighting about something. In fact, Fred and George Weasley had opened a betting pool and almost every student was placing bets on either Snape or Alex.

It was right before the fifth years Gryffindors and Slytherins had potions when Ayla Black and Amaya Grace ran up to the twins. Ayla slammed down three Galleons on the table in front of the two boys.

"Alex!" Ayla said declaring her bet. The girl had taken a liking to the student teacher and the way she stood up to Snape. Alex was almost like a worshipped icon in the eyes of all those who detested Snape, saying the things that many had only dreamed of saying to the man. 

"Snape!" Amaya stated with a defiant glint in her eye. George marked down both the bets on a roll of parchment, as Fred gathered up the money into the collecting tin.

"Snape? You're betting on him?!" Ayla cried out as they headed off to class.

"Yeah. He's going to win! I mean come on, he scares everyone." Amaya said. She felt the need to stick up for her head of house, and truly felt that he had the upper hand on the student teacher. It was a weird friendship that the two had, being from rival houses and always competing with each other. But somehow they had found a common ground where their friendship was based.

"Not Alex! She just laughs at him." Ayla defended.

"Miss Grace, Miss Black take your seats." Snape said seeing the two girls walk in. They both took their seats on the designated sides of the room, eagerly waiting the bickering to begin. 

The class actually went pretty smooth for once, much to the disappointment of the students. Unfortunately, it did last that long. Towards the end, tension started up again. Alex was up in front of the class teaching the fifth years a glow in the dark potion.

"It seems, Miss. Harper, that you have forgotten to explain the purpose of the dragonfly wings." Snape said talking to her as if she was a child. Alex gave him a dirty look.

"Thank you for reminding me, Stanley." She smirked. She could hear the fifth year's snickers but over the noise boomed Severus' reply.

"It's nothing…Alexandra." The glass bottle of dragonfly wings fell from Alex's hand, shattering on the floor. Memories came flooding back to Alex in a whirlwind. The faces that she longed to forget flashed before her eyes and she could hear his taunting voice. '_Alexandra_…' Quickly pushing away the memories, she turned and faced Snape with a dark look across her face.

"What did you call me?" she asked, cold rage in her voice.

"Alexandra. That is your name after all." Severus smirked, oblivious to the pain that Alex was fighting in her heart.

"No one calls me Alexandra." Alex stated, her eyes glittering with anger. Severus couldn't help but notice how attractive she looked when angry. Shaking the thought from his mind, he turned to the class.

"You may go. We will continue this next week." The class filed out and as Ayla passed by Snape, she couldn't help but let out a cough that sounded very similar to the word Stanley. She bolted out the door before he could deduct house points or give her a detention.

"I'm telling you now. Don't ever call me Alexandra again." Alex stated firmly looking up at him. Snape just smirked down at her.

"I don't think that that will be possible seeing that you have taken to calling me by my middle name." He stated calmly.

"This is totally different." Alex argued.

"No, Alexandra, I don't believe it is." Snape stated and turned away from her. Glaring angrily, Alex stomped out the door, ignoring the chuckle that followed.

'How did he find out? Who told him?' Alex thought to herself. She stopped and leaned heavily on the windowsill one the corridors. 

'Get a grip, girl! It's just a name! Scott can't hurt you anymore!' Alex yelled in her head.

"Are you all right, Alex?" an elderly voice asked from behind her. Turning around, Alex saw Dumbledore standing there with the usual twinkle in his eye but this time it was mixed in with concern.

"You told him my name." Alex stated softly, turning back to the window, looking out across the grounds.

"I take it that you are talking about Severus." Albus said.

"No, the tooth fairy. Yes Severus. Why did you tell him?" Alex asked running a hand through her hair.

"He had asked. I didn't see any harm in it. May I ask why it bothers you?" Dumbledore inquired, ignoring her blatant sarcasm

"It's just something from my past." Alex sighed. Dumbledore gave her a look in efforts to have her continue. Alex turned to face the headmaster.

"I've put it behind me. It's nothing to worry about." Alex said but wondered if she was trying to convince the headmaster or herself.

"You cannot run from the past, my dear. You will eventually have to face it." Dumbledore stated. Alex smiled sadly and walked away, continuing on to her room. All she wanted to do was take a long hot bath and fall asleep.

Next Chapter: Alex loses her temper and it results in a small potions lab accident! Oops! LOL 

Quick! Review and then I will post up the next chapter or two!


	7. Just one more time

Thank you to all who have reviewed. I totally meant to get this chapter up sooner but I didn't have the time. So in apology I am posting this one and another chapter!! Yay!! LOL Now please remember to keep reviewing cause it is what keeps me motivated to write. Thanks

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Chapter Seven

It had been only a couple of days since Snape had started calling Alex by her full name. It started off with the meals. Alex was sitting, happily enjoying a light breakfast and a rather good conversation with Remus when she heard her name being said loudly from the man beside her. 

"Alexandra." Snape said, a cruel smirk playing across his features. Alex froze mid-sentence, unable to believe that he was still calling her that even though she had firmly told him not to. But then again, she was the one being a hypocrite since she still used his middle name occasionally.

"Alexandra." Snape repeated again. Remus tried to hide his smile and quickly took a bite of food. Alex turned and faced him.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"Pass the bacon." Snape requested. Alex took the large serving bowl and handed it to Snape.

"Shut up." Alex said seeing Lupin's grin.

"What? I didn't say anything." Remus defended, suddenly finding his water goblet very interesting.

"Alexandra." Snape said once again.

"What do you want now?" Alex sighed, suddenly feeling slightly drained. Every time he said her name, she had to fight to keep the memories at bay. She constantly now had to remind herself that Scott couldn't hurt her anymore. That he didn't know where she was, not having seen her for a few years.

"Can you pass the scrambled eggs?" Snape asked, indicating to the plate of meat that sat to the left of her. She quickly handed it to him and went to go back to her conversation once again.

"Alexandra." That was it! Alex placed every serving dish that was nearby in front of Snape before he could even ask, then up and left the table, ignoring the laughter from Remus and the proud smirk of Snape.

It continued on like this in class too. He would ask her questions, addressing her by her name. She had currently counted him using her name nineteen times during the current 7th year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class.

'Just one more time and I swear its over for him.' Alex thought frowning. Snape noticed Alex standing off to the side, scowling at him instead of helping the students, like she was supposed to be doing.

"Isn't there something practical you could be doing, Alexandra?" Snape asked as he passed by, heading over to check the Weasley twin's potion. 

Alex smirked to herself and pulled out her wand from her sleeve, muttering a small incantation. The shoelaces on Snape's boots quickly knotted together, causing him to trip and fall right into Fred and George's potion. Alex covered her mouth with her hand in order to hide her laughter as the students looked on with horror. The twin's had jumped back in order to avoid getting splashed by the potion, which hadn't been fully finished yet. Large blisters started forming on Snape's arms, hands, and face. He glared at Alex and he hurriedly fixed his shoes, climbing back to his feet trying to ignore the pain that was building at the potion soaked into his skin and robes.

"You do have the antidote, don't you?" Alex mocked. Snape did not reply but stormed out of the classroom, heading for the infirmary.

"Poppy!" Snape bellowed throwing the door open. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office at the sound of Snape yelling. Her eyebrows raised at the sight of him.

"And what happened to you, Severus?" she asked as he took a seat on the bed.

"Miss Harper happened, that's what." Snape frowned as Poppy quickly started applying a cream to the blisters.

"Ah! I do not understand why you two do not get along. You both have a lot in common." Poppy commented. She, as well as the rest of the staff, knew of the hostility between the student teacher and the professor.

"Like what?" Snape said vehemently.

"Well, she is very gifted with Potions. Surely you can find some common ground in that." Poppy stated.

"Yes, she is rather good at Potions but that does not mean that she has the right to make me seem a fool in front of my students." Snape declared wincing slightly at the stinging sensation as the blisters began to fade.

"If my memory serves me correctly, Severus, it was you who made her look a fool first." Poppy said. Snape just frowned and started contemplating revenge.

Next Chapter: You find out a little of Lia's past and Snape retaliates when Alex least expects it!

Please review!!!!!!!!


	8. Oh what can he do? Glare at me to death?

As I have promised, Here's another chapter. Now be nice to me and review!!!!!

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Chapter Eight

Anticipation was awful, as everyone waited to see what Snape would do next. A week went slowly by without any move from the potions master. But the anticipation of the prank wasn't the only thing bothering Alex. She had noticed that something had been bothering Lia lately and being the good friend that she was, she headed up to Lia's classroom during her afternoon free period. Alex had just reached the classroom and stood in the doorway as Lia was ending the class.

"And remember your homework is a roll of parchment comparing wizard money to muggle money." Lia said. The students filed past Alex as she waited in the doorway.

"Only one roll, Lia? I think you're going soft." Alex teased sidestepping the students as they raced from the room.

"No. You've just been working under Severus too long." Lia grinned. Alex laughed and took a seat on top of one of the desks.

"Don't you have class?" Lia asked.

"Nope. Free period." Alex stated swinging her legs back and forth.

"I feel honored then, that you escaped the dungeons to come see me." Lia smiled. "Now what is it that you want?" She knew that the younger girl was up to something.

"I want to know what's wrong." Alex stated bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Lia asked slightly confused.

"There's something bothering you so I am here to lend a sympathetic ear. Now start talking." Alex grinned.

"There's nothing wrong." Lia said unconvincingly. Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Despite what Professor Snape thinks, I am not an idiot. I can tell something's bothering you." Alex stated.

"It's pointless to talk about. Its nothing important." Lia said.

"Sure. And I'm supposed to believe that one." Alex said rolling her eyes.

"Fine. Are you sure you wanna hear the story? It's pretty long." Lia asked leaning back in her chair.

"I'm all ears." Alex grinned, happy to get her way for once.

"Well it's just that this time of year is pretty bad for me. You should probably know that Harry Potter is my nephew, but he doesn't know and I am not allowed to tell him." Lia began.

"Wow. Yeah I can definitely see the resemblance between you two. I'm surprised I didn't notice it before, though. He looks more like you then your daughter, Ayla, does." Alex commented. (Authors note: Lia is Ayla Black's mother. I mentioned Ayla in previous chapters)

"That's because Ayla takes after her father." Lia said.

"Do I know him?" Alex asked, idly wondering if it was one of the professors at the school.

"No. His name is Sirius Black. He is my husband." Lia said.

"Your husband? Then where is he?" Alex asked slightly shocked.

"He's in hiding right now." Lia explained carefully.

"Hiding? From what?" Alex asked confused.

"Pretty much from the whole wizarding community. He's a wanted man," Lia said rather lightly.

"Hold up a sec! Wanted? What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"You mean you don't know? Wow, Sirius is going to be disappointed that he's not famous in America." Lia laughed.

"I'm confused." Alex frowned.

"Sirius was put into Azkaban for twelve years. The officials claim that he killed thirteen people with a single curse. But he was innocent. This rat of a man, Peter, framed him. This bastard is also the reason why my brother and best friend aren't alive." Lia said.

"Harry's mother and father?" Alex asked, as she started to put the information together in her head.

"Yes, Peter told Voldemort where they were in hiding. In a matter of two days I lost pretty much everything that mattered to me. And now after all these years, it still hurts." Lia said. Alex jumped up and gave her a hug.

"But you're not alone. You have me and other friends and your daughter and Harry." Alex said, slightly rambling in efforts to brighten up her friend.

"Thank you. It's good to be reminded of that sometimes. It did help talking about it." Lia smiled gratefully.

"Hey no problem. It's what I'm here for." Alex smiled. She just happened to look down at her wristwatch.

"Aw shit! I'm twenty minutes late for class! And I'm supposed to teach today." Alex swore.

"You better go. Severus is probably already furious, knowing him." Lia chuckled.

"Oh what can he do? Glare at me to death?" Alex laughed.

"You'd be surprised." Lia grinned and Alex waved as she bolted out the door. She ran through the halls, anticipating the lecture she was going to get from Snape. Throwing open the classroom door, Alex stopped inside trying to catch her breath. The room was silent as all eyes were on her. Snape sat at his desk with a rather calm and cool look on his face.

"You're late Miss. Harper." Snape stated, his eyes boring into hers.

"Sorry. Lost track of time." Alex stated, conjuring up a glass of water and taking a sip. Her throat had suddenly gone dry for some reason. Probably because of the running that she had just done.

"Well let's hope that you still have enough time to conduct the lesson." Snape sneered. Alex rolled her eyes and set the glass down.

"I have plenty of time. All right 5th years. Today you are going to learn how to make a potion that will allow you to breathe a non-burning fire." Alex said.

"Non-burning? What's the point in that then?" Malfoy shouted out.

"I can certainly tell you, Mr. Malfoy, that this is more then a simple parlor trick. If you use this when facing an enemy, it can be used as great distraction." Alex stated. Malfoy looked slightly impressed and continued to keep his mouth shut.

"All right then. Bring your cauldron to a low simmer." She instructed. The students did as they were told and Alex continued shouting out instructions and keeping an eye on Neville's potion, to make sure that he wasn't doing anything wrong. Alex reached over and grabbed her water, taking a sip just as Hermione yelled out 

"No!" After swallowing the drink, Alex asked what was wrong but to everyone's ears but hers, it came out

"Stahw gnorw?" (What's wrong?) The students burst out laughing.

"Professor Snape slipped something into your drink." Hermione stated. "I think it was a dyslexia potion." Alex's eyes widened in anger and she whirled around and faced Snape, who was smirking at her.

"Uoy elbareffusni dratsab! Uoy era gnihton tub a deliops dlich." (You insufferable bastard! You are nothing but a spoiled child.) Alex yelled.

"I have no clue what you are rambling about, Miss. Harper. Maybe if you tried speaking slower." Snape said amusement clear on his face. Alex glowered at him and proceeded to stomp out the door, flicking him off behind her back. Snape ignored the offensive retort and proceeded to take twenty points from Gryffindor for Hermione not minding her own business.

Please review!!!

Next Chapter: Alex has a talk with Poppy 


	9. You’re saying that Professor Snape actua...

Here is another chapter. PLEASE review and tell me what you all think! I need to know that there are people still reading this story! Chapter Nine 

            "Yppop!" (Poppy!) Alex yelled, storming into the infirmary. She hadn't known any place else to go and wasn't about to try and ask Snape for the antidote for whatever he had done to her. Madam Pomfrey looked up from where she was organizing a large oak cabinet; various vials and equipment were surrounding the area around her.

            "Oh dear. Not a dyslexia potion." Poppy sighed. Obviously Severus had not taken her words to heart and had continued the battle with the girl who stood in front of her. Alex nodded weakly as she sat down on the empty bed. She wasn't only mad at Snape but also at herself. She should have expected it but she had let her guard down. Poppy came bustling over with a small glass vial in hand that contained a clear light blue liquid.

            "Here dear. This should reverse the effects." Poppy said, handing her the vial. Alex drank it down quickly. It tasted horrible but she didn't care, only happy that the elderly nurse had the antidote on hand.

            "Knaht Uoy." (Thank You) Alex said but looked confused as to why she was still talking backwards. Maybe it didn't work and she would have to go and beg Snape for the antidote?! She would rather go around talking backwards for the rest of her life then to ask for his help.

            "It takes a few moments until it starts to work." Poppy explained taking the empty vial from Alex. Alex sighed thankfully and leaned backwards comfortably on the bed.

            "You know, I haven't seen Severus like this since he was a child." Poppy commented as she cleaned up.

            "Tahw? A thgirnwod dratsab?" (What? A downright bastard?) Alex lashed out, obviously still upset. Poppy raised an amused eyebrow at her, chuckling lightly at Alex's choice of words.

            "No, not a downright bastard, even though he can be that at times."  

"Ylno semitemos?" (Only sometimes?) Alex scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Truthfully, if he was being a downright bastard he wouldn't even waste his time thinking of pranks he could do to you. He also wouldn't have admitted to me that you are talented when it comes to potions." Poppy smiled. Alex looked up sharply at her words.

"Eh dias taht about me?"(He said that) Alex asked. The antidote was starting to work as some of her words were actually starting to make sense.

"Yes he did. You see, as a child he would constantly attempt pranks on a certain group of rivals. Although…. they always seemed to have the advantage over him." Poppy chuckled; remembering back when James Potter and the group would pulls tricks on Severus and how he would always try to get them back. But one boy against an entire group wasn't fair odds.

            "Ko so tahw does taht have ot do htiw me?" (Ok, what, that, to, with) Alex asked.

            "It is my belief that Severus actually cared for a couple members of that group. He has actually shown compassion towards them in the past, whether he realizes it or not." Poppy explained. She had seen more in Snape then others have because she had taken the time to watch him and study his actions over the years. He had grown into a fascinating man but he had the bad habit of pushing people away when they got too close. Alex had gotten more of a reaction out of him then anyone for years, even though neither has realized it.

            "You're saying that Professor Snape actually cares about me?" Alex asked looking to the nurse as if she was out of her mind. Snape and her loathed each other! They could barely be in the same room together. How do you get caring from that? Poppy just shrugged and chuckled to herself.

            "It seems that the antidote had taken full effect and I believe that dinner is about to be served." Poppy just stated, moving back to continue organizing her supplies. Alex got up from the bed and cast Madam Pomfrey one more questioning look before exiting the Infirmary.

            Alex's stomach gave a low growl as she made her way down to the Great Hall; Poppy's words were still ringing in her ears. Before she had a chance to further think about what the older lady had been hinting at, Alex spotted Remus, Lia, and Fiona waiting for her outside the Great Hall.

            "We heard about what happened!" Fiona gushed as they all made their way up the aisle, towards the head table. Alex could imagine how fast the news of the latest prank had spread. No one could keep a secret in that place. 

            "Did he really slip a dyslexia potion in your drink?" Lia asked. 

            "Yeah he did." Alex said, nodding her head.

            "I could just imagine your face when you realized that you were talking backwards." Remus laughed heartily. Alex sent him a mock glare but couldn't prevent the small chuckle that escaped her lips. If you did think about it, it was pretty funny.

            "Miss Harper, are you all right?" Hermione asked coming up to the head table.

            "Yes. Madam Pomfrey had the antidote, thankfully." Alex smiled. "But thank you, Hermione, for trying to prevent it. You didn't get in much trouble, did you?"

            "Not really. Just some house points deducted." Hermione said. Alex nodded. Hermione smiled and returned to her seat at the Gryffindor table.

            "So do you have an idea on how you're gonna get back at him this time?" Fiona asked eagerly. Alex grinned, leaning back in her seat. She caught sight of Snape entering the room, snapping at some students that had gotten in his way.

            "Oh I have a plan. Trust me." Alex smirked.

Next Chapter: Snape finds his classroom looking a little brighter! ;)

Please review!!! I beg you!!!!


	10. You know, I never really thought of you ...

Wow! I just have to say I love you guys! You all have been keeping me writing and truthfully, I have written up to the 17th chapter!!! So you guys r in for a treat cause its pretty good! If I do say so myself!!! But here is Ch 10 and I believe it is one of my more humorous chapters. Lemme know what you all think so far!!!!! Chapter Ten 

            Friday's were definitely one of Snape's favorite days. Only two classes where he had to deal with the dunderhead students that he was forced to teach. And only two classes where he had to deal with Alexandra Harper. The foolish woman drove him up the wall. Sure she was good with potions, she wasn't that bad of a teacher either. She cared more for the student's welfare then he liked, but not everyone was perfect. The part that bothered him the most was that she showed no respect. He was supposed to be the more knowledgeable one, whom she should look up to, respect, and admire. But no. She just laughed at him! Treated him like they were equals! It was absurd. 

            Snape had just reached his classroom, wondering if Alex had arrived yet since he had not seen her at breakfast. It hadn't worried him any, since she occasionally chose to sleep-in rather then get up for the morning meal. Through the closed door, he could hear laughter and loud voices. Frowning, Snape slammed the door open and immediately froze. Everything in the room was a bright hot pink. The desks, floor, cauldrons… everything! The fifth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class immediately fell into silence at the arrival of their teacher. 

            "Where is she? Where is Harper?" Snape growled out staring at the students with this cold black eyes. No one dared to say anything. Snape grabbed a Ravenclaw by the front of his robes.

            "Where is she?" Snape asked once more.

            "I don't know, sir. The room was like this when we got here." The student stammered out. Snape released him back into his chair just as Alex came sauntering into the room, happily munching on an apple. Beneath her black robes, Snape could see her hot pink shirt that matched the room perfectly.

            "I love what you've done with the place." Alex smirked disposing of the apple core. Snape glared hard at her and she swore she could see smoke coming out of his ears.

            "You know, I never really thought of you as a pink person, but to each his own, right?" Alex continued unable to hide the laughter in her voice. The look on his face was just too precious. If only she had remembered her camera. Snape grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the hallway, slamming the door closed behind them.

            "Change it back!" Snape demanded harshly.

            "You know, I don't really know the reversal spell." Alex admitted slyly. 

            "You put a spell on my classroom and you don't know how to reverse it?! You stupid girl!" Snape yelled, his voice echoing through the empty corridor.

            "Hey! No need for name calling now. It'll wear off in a few hours." Alex frowned, her good mood quickly vanishing.

            "And pray tell, what do you expect me to do with my classes?" Snape asked viscously.

            "How about teach them? Wow, there's a concept!" Alex stated rolling her eyes.

            "I refuse to teach in a classroom that has been defiled!" 

            "What? Afraid it will ruin your precious reputation? Lemme fill you in on something, Professor! Your reputation is already ruined beyond repair and _that wasn't my doing! You did that all on your own. So you have nothing to worry about." Alex fought back._

            "Everything was a lot less stressful before you came here." Snape stated pinching the bridge of his nose out of exasperation. 

            "Is that what you want? For me to leave? Then just tell me so and I'm gone!" Alex shouted back.

            "LEAVE!" Snape bellowed.

            "No I don't think I will." Alex said, as if pondering the idea. Suddenly she found herself pinned up against the stone wall.

            "I am tired of you and your lack of respect. You are a spoiled child who knows nothing and cries when they don't get their way." Snape hissed, peering down into her face.

            "Excuse me? I'm the spoiled child? I think you have gotten it turned around, Stanley! You're the one who has no respect, you arrogant prick!" Alex shot back. Without warning, Snape pressed his mouth against hers in a harsh and brutal kiss.

            'What the hell?' Alex thought in her head, as she struggled against him. But he was too strong for her and she slumped limply against the wall in defeat. Breaking apart, Severus finally realized what he had done. Alex looked up at him with wide eyes and took the moment of stunned silence to bolt up the stairs.

            "Damn it!" Snape yelled punching the wall. His detest for the girl just increased. He didn't know what possessed him to kiss her. He had just been so angry that he wasn't thinking right. Now she was probably go blab to the headmaster and get him in trouble! Well then, he would just have to use this to his advantage since she wouldn't be expecting another prank from him! Snape wasn't about to let this girl win. Not when he had the upper hand.

            Alex ran through the castle, not even paying attention to where she was going. Soon she found herself outside, standing at the edge of the lake. The wind blew swiftly, making Alex shiver. It was cold out since fall was almost over and winter was rapidly approaching. But it wasn't enough to drive her back inside. 

            A million thoughts were running through Alex's head as she looked across the water. A dark shape was swimming under the surface out towards the middle but Alex barely even noticed it. Why did he kiss her? It hadn't been a normal kiss that's for sure. It was intended to be punishing and cruel.  Oh how she hated him! She hadn't felt this much loathing since… No she was not going to go down that road again! 

            Why was she reacting so badly over something so stupid as a kiss? She felt embarrassed about it and idly wondered what his reaction to it was. Probably laughing about it since he won. He made her leave. Damn him! Alex felt the sudden need to hit something hard…too bad Snape wasn't there!

Next Chapter: Its more then just a bad hair day!!!!

Please Review!!!!


	11. Isn’t there some rule against wearing ha...

Thank you to all who have reviewed. Unfortunately I don't have the time to thank everyone personally…I'll probably do that at the end of the story…..but there are a few who had some questions and comments I do wish to address.

Maladady Jane- I just realized how random I threw Lupin in. I am soooo sorry. That part is based in my friend's story, which mine goes along with. Lupin, as well as Fiona, is there for the Order of the phoenix. Later on in the story, the fight against Voldie becomes way more of a part. But that you for making me realize how random that was. As for the Mary Sue, I know Alex pretty much falls into that category. I happen to like some Mary Sues, just not the weak fluffy headed ones that fall instantly in love with Snape. I believe that most OC's fall into the Mary Sue category just because of all the different versions there are.

Green Slytherin Chick- I dot he same thing sometimes. When I get writers block, I either read a fic on here or call up my friend and she helps me work out some ideas. Thanks for reviewing!!

Elynn- Yes I know the kissing part was kinda random. LOL but I had to do something there in order to give it a future for a relationship between the two. 

I'm sorry I don't have the time to reply to more people. But I am sure that many of u are just skimming through in order to get to the story ;). That's ok. I forgive you. If any of u wanna chat…my aim name is Christiangrl017  I am always looking to chat with people.

Now onto the story!!! Oh, and remember to review. Thanks

**Chapter Eleven**

            Alex spent the entire weekend avoiding Snape. She spent it writing letters back home to friends and family, filling them in on the latest prank updates. Her mother, obviously, wasn't very pleased with how Alex was behaving but her father found it very amusing and was proud of his daughter for sticking up for herself.  But the weekend was over and she could no longer avoid the professor. Stepping out of the shower, Alex headed over to the mirror as she towel dried her long hair. It was actually getting a little too long for Alex's liking but figured she could deal with it until she got home. Wiping the water condensation off of the mirror, Alex let out a horrified scream that echoed all the way down to the dungeons where a proud smirk formed on Severus' face. Alex stared at her reflection in utter horror.

            "Oh dear! You look dreadful." The mirror said. Alex's usual reddish-blonde hair was now a deep green, the obvious mark of a Slytherin. Or rather, the head of Slytherin house. Alex grabbed her wand and tried to fix it but nothing seemed to work.

            "What the hell did he slip into my shampoo?!" Alex growled out as she started pulling on her clothes, having given up on fixing her hair. How did he even get into her rooms? He must have heard her say the password one time on his way to the dungeons. 

            "How am  I supposed to hide this?" Alex whined looking helplessly into the mirror once again.

            "May I suggest a hat or possibly a wig?" the mirror said rather sympathetically. Alex though for a moment then raced to her closet where she started digging through the top shelf.

            "I know I brought it with me." Alex mumbled to herself.

            "Aha!" She exclaimed and reemerged holding a blue Chicago Cubs baseball cap. Baseball was one of the few muggle sports that Alex rather enjoyed. Not as good as Quidditch, of course. She quickly tucked her hair up into the hat, making sure she hid it good enough so that no one could see.

            "How's that?" Alex asked the mirror, surveying her work.

            "It'll do." The mirror stated. Alex nodded then headed out of her room before she was late to breakfast.

            "Good morning Alex." Lia smiled, meeting up with the girl in the corridor. 

            "Ha! Who says?" Alex shot back, grumpily.

            "Uh oh. What happened?" Lia asked seeing the dirty look on Alex's face that could only mean Snape. Alex glanced around, making sure that they were alone. Quickly she lifted up a part of her hat, revealing her green hair.

            "He didn't?!" Lia gasped.

            "Yes he did. Somehow slipped something into my shampoo!" Alex replied, covering her hair once again.

            "He did it to Sirius once. Still haven't figure out how he got into the Gryffindor tower." Lia chuckled.            Alex let out a small laugh but was busy contemplating the best way to get back at Snape. Alex took her seat once again adjusting the hat just to make sure that no stray hairs were poking out.

            "May I ask why?" Remus said pointedly looking at the blue baseball cap on her head. 

            "Please don't." Alex grimaced. Remus just shook his head in amusement.

            "Hey, Alex! Here comes your favorite person." Fiona said from two seats down. Alex looked up just as Snape took his seat next to her.

            "Good morning, Miss Harper." Snape stated rather calmly. Alex didn't reply but continued to glare hatefully at him. Severus studied the hat for a moment and silently decided that that just would not do.

            "Headmaster. Isn't there some rule against wearing hats at the table?" Snape asked. Alex's eyes widened. He wouldn't! Oh yes he would. Alex cast a pleading look at Dumbledore. Surely, he wouldn't make her take it off?

            "I do not know of such a rule, Severus. And if there was one, I should suggest that it was disregarded." Dumbledore spoke then changed the topic after studying the hat more closely. "Alex, I was not aware that you liked American baseball. I am also quite a big fan. Although, I must admit I rather like the New York Yankees." Alex smiled in relief.

            "Yeah but with the Cubs, win or lose the fans stick by them. It's more then just a game! It's a sense of community pride. It's the same with American football. The Bears are one of the worst teams in the league but the fans still remain loyal." Alex preached. 

            "Interesting theory, Miss Harper. May I take a closer look at your hat? I don't believe I have seen one like it before." Snape interrupted. Before Alex could stop him, Snape swiped the hat from off the top of her head; her green hair came tumbling down. The entire room fell into silence as all eyes were on Alex. She could feel her face turning red as she shook with fury. Suddenly laughter was surrounding her, the loudest coming from the Slytherin table. 

            "You know, I think green looks good on you." Snape smirked placing the hat on the table in front of her.

            "How dare you!" Alex snarled. Snape just raised an eyebrow at her. Before Alex knew what she was doing, she had grabbed a large pitcher of ice-cold water and dumped it into Snape's lap. His eyes widened in shock and pain as the cold water seeped into his pants. Cheers erupted from all houses, except for Slytherin.

            "Feel better, Alexandra?" Snape asked with ice in his voice.

            "Surprisingly yes." Alex laughed. The next thing she found a plate of pastries shoved in her face. Wiping the food from her face, she looked at him in outrage.

            "Oh now you're gonna get it!" Alex threatened, reaching towards the bowl of scrambled eggs.

            "FOOD FIGHT!" one of the Weasley's yelled out although Alex couldn't tell which. All the students started fling food at each other as Snape and Alex fought their own private war.

            "ENOUGH!!!" Dumbledore's voice rang out over the yells. Everyone froze, all eyes falling on the Headmaster.

            "You will proceed to your rooms to clean up before your classes. You two, in my office." Dumbledore said addressing the food covered Snape and Alex. "NOW!" Both adult scrambled up from their seats and exited through a side door. 

Next Chapter: A truce is unwillingly formed!!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!


	12. So you wish to establish this truce?

**Sorry about the delay in posting. I finally started my job and haven't had the time to format my story. But here is the next chapter. It's a little short but I will be posting the next one within the next few days. Enjoy…and please review!!!!**

**Chapter Twelve**

            "This is all your fault." Snape stated as they sat in the office, waiting for the Headmaster to arrive.

            "My fault? And how do you figure that one, genius?" Alex shot back, rolling her eyes.

            "You started the food fight!" Snape replied.

            "YOU turned my hair green!" 

            "You turned my classroom pink! Pink of all colors!" Snape bellowed angrily. They had both gotten to their feet and were facing each other in the middle of the office, itching to draw their wands.

            "I happen to like pink, thank you very much. Anyway, you made me talk backwards!" Alex reprimanded. 

            "You made me trip into the Weasley's potion."

            "You were asking it, you stupid ass! You called me Alexandra!" 

            "Your point being? You were calling me Stanley." Both of them were inches from each other, shouting into each other's faces. Well, Alex was doing the best she could with him towering over her.

            "You attempted to sabotage my first lesson."

            "Well you have no respect!"

            "No respect? Look at you!  You judge people before you get a chance to know them. You give no one a chance! You push everyone away and if you must live in misery, so must everyone else!" Alex shrieked. In truth, Alex had hit a soft spot with Snape and deep down he knew her accusation was correct.

            "Are you two done yet?" Dumbledore asked calmly from the doorway. 

            "Quite." Snape glared, taking his seat once again. Alex shot him a dirty look and also returned to her seat. Dumbledore chuckled as he walked over to his desk.

            "This situation between the two of you has gotten entirely out of hand. I want you two to establish a truce now." He stated, his gaze even on the two adults sitting in front of him.

            "Absolutely not!" Snape cried out standing up once again, as if insulted by the idea of having a truce with the girl.

            "Alex only has a month and a half left with us, Severus. I do believe that you two can manage to find some common ground enough to last that short of a duration." Albus continued, not shocked at all by the burst of outrage. 

            "But Headmaster, you don't understand. There is no common ground, what so ever!" Alex argued.

            "I find that hard to believe. In fact, there's a bit of information that will interest the both of you that I do believe can provide that common ground." Dumbledore chuckled. Alex studied the elderly wizard closely. What did he know that either of them did not?

            "And what would that be, Albus?" Snape asked doubtfully.

            "I believe that two red-headed twins have set up a betting pool that concerns the two of you." 

            "A betting pool?" Alex asked astounded. 

            "Yes and it seems that most of the school has been involved in it. They have been making bets on, it seems, the fights that have been going on between the two of you." Albus explained. One could tell, with the twinkle in his eye, that Dumbledore was quite amused by the student's actions.

            "Do they realize how many school rules they are breaking?" Snape cried out lividly.

            "I don't really think that they care." Alex stated. "So how do you expect us to find common ground on this?" she continued looking pointedly at Dumbledore.

            "That is up to you and Severus. At this moment, none of the students realize that any of us know about this bet. They believe that they have kept it sufficiently discreet." He replied.

            "So, we go and assign them detention." Snape stated. That was what he usually did and found great joy from it.

            "Well, I was hoping that you and Alex would be a bit more creative then that." Albus said with his eye twinkling.

            "I think I am starting to understand." Alex laughed, leaning back into the chair more comfortably.

            "There's a new one. You understanding something." Snape said sarcastically.

            "Shut it you!" Alex glared. "This is my idea. What if we, instead of playing a prank on each other, play a bit of a prank on the students?"

            "You have my attention." Snape said studying the girl next to him.       

            "Well I am not really sure how we could do it, but if we got together and planned, I believe that we could come up with something pretty good. You know, end this little war with a bang." Alex suggested deviously.

            "So you wish to establish this truce?" Snape asked suspiciously. Could he really trust her to keep it? Would they really be able to work together for once? Instead of fighting?

            "Well come on. Its not like we have been getting much work done for the past month or so that I have been here. But it doesn't mean we have to be friends either." Alex argued. Snape considered it for a moment. It would be rather amusing to get back at the students, even if it did mean working with Alex.

            "What you say makes sense. I will agree to this truce." He said, hoping that he would not live to regret it. After all, it was only for a month and a half.

            "Splendid! Now I believe you two have a prank to plan before classes start." Dumbledore smiled.

Please review!!!

Next Chapter: Turning the tables on the students. Will they fall for it?


	13. I believe that you owe me ten galleons, ...

Alright everyone…here is the next chapter that I promised!! Please review and lemme know what you think.

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Chapter Thirteen

"You don't honestly believe that this will work." Snape asked as they set up for the 7th year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class. 

"Why wouldn't it? The last thing they expect is for us to be nice to each other. From what I understand, the students are probably going to place a ton of bets on us today because of the incident to breakfast." Alex argued. Her hair was still green since Snape refused to provide her with the antidote, but promised that it would wear off by the end of the day.

"I still do not think that this will work. We should just assign each and everyone of them detention." Snape frowned, pulling some jars off of the shelves.

"Fine then. I bet you 10 galleons that the class will fall for the prank." Alex grinned, taking a seat on the desk. Snape smirked back at her.

"I accept." 

The class came filing inside, many still laughing about the events at breakfast.

"Miss Harper! I gotta say that green is definitely your color." One of the twins laughed as they passed by, heading towards their seats. Alex just rolled her eyes and waited for Snape to start the class. Today, they were both going to demonstrate how to make a truth serum.

"In your seats, NOW!" Snape bellowed, signaling the start of class. "Today you will learning how to make a truth serum. No, this is not Veritaserum. That process is not permitted to be taught in the classroom, and I highly doubt that you lot would be able to comprehend the delicate process that it takes in order to accomplish the full effect if it was." Snape said. Alex had to repress a laugh at the disappointed and dejected looks that many of the students formed.

"Now I expect all of you to pay close attention and take extensive notes on what Miss Harper and I will be instructing." Snape continued. Alex hopped down from her seat and moved over to the cauldron that they had set up. Her job was to make the potion while Snape explained the procedure step by step.

"Are you ready to begin, Miss Harper?" Snape asked with no hint of disdain in his voice. 

"Yes, Professor." Alex replied treating him with more respect then what was normal. The students seemed to still be waiting for some kind of insult to come from either one of them. Snape couldn't believe it. Were they actually going to fall for this simple of a prank? It was quite possible that he might be paying up sooner then he thought. 

The class continued with Alex carefully combining the proper ingredients to make the truth serum, as Snape explained what she was doing to class. Many of the students were not taking good enough notes since they were confused on to why the two instructors were actually being nice and civil towards each other. Alex was actually treating Snape with respect instead of muttering insults at his methods of teaching. And Snape actually seemed to smile at one moment, when Alex made a small joke about how her best friend had slipped the truth serum in her drink as a joke. She ended up revealing her feelings of loathing to her potions professor back when they were in their 7th year at the school she had attended before college. That had ended up with a month's worth of detention because of the few choice words she had used. 

Soon the class was done and as the students were exiting, Snape grabbed hold of the Weasley twin's robes.

"A minute, if you'd please." Snape said with an odd glint in his eye. The twins knew then that they were in trouble and slowly backed back into the classroom. Snape and Alex both frowned at the boys

"A little bird told us that you have started a betting pool concerning us." Alex stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She hoped she looked intimidating enough since both boys were taller then her, but it must have worked good enough since they seemed rather nervous.

"Well, you see. We can explain." Fred said, hoping to somehow talk their way out of trouble.

"Oh really? Please. Enlighten us on what would make you believe that you are free to break the school rules, Mr. Weasley." Snape said sarcastically.

"Professor, they should at least have the chance to defend themselves." Alex said looking over at Snape. The twins cast pleading looking in Snape's direction. Maybe with Alex on their side, they would get out of this unharmed.

"Fine." Snape frowned, silently fighting to not make some insulting remark to Alex like he would have normally done. They were forced to make a truce and he would not be the first one to break it. Alex turned back to the boys, waiting for their excuse. Fred nudged George in the side, indicating for him to speak up.

"Well…umm…you see… we didn't really see any harm in it. It wasn't hurting anyone. And the fights that you two would have were pretty entertaining." George said thinking as fast as he could for some kind of defense.

"Yeah, no harm was done. We didn't think it was a big deal." Fred agreed with his brother.

"That's the best you could do? Boys, I'm disappointed." Alex said shaking her head. She had expected a better answer then that from them.

"The fact still stands that you broke the rules. Now you will serve detention with Mr. Filch for the next two weeks." Snape said. Alex was impressed. That was quite lenient for him! She had expected him to dish out at least a month's worth! Obviously the twin's were equally surprised about getting off so easily. The twin's made to leave, but George stopped.

"I was wondering something. Why are you two getting along now? We thought you hated each other." Alex laughed and grinned at Snape.

"I believe that you owe me ten galleons, Professor." Snape just rolled his eyes. The twin's looked confused.

"The professor and I have called a truce. But when we heard of your little betting pool, we decided to have some fun and freak everyone out. Hence the being nice to each other part." Alex explained to the twins. Their eyes widened in realization.

"You bet on us!" Fred exclaimed. Alex just smirked.

"Better get going or you're going to be late for your next class." She said. The twin's walked out, amazed that they had been conned by Professor Snape of all people!

"Only two weeks?" Alex asked once the twins had left.

"I know. It was rather out of character, wasn't it?" Snape smirked. "But look at it this way. All the students that placed bets on us are going to be after those two since we called a truce. They are going to lose all their money. I figured that that was enough punishment for them."

"I'm impressed." Alex laughed as she started to clean up from the class. Suddenly, they could both hear yelling and instantly knew that Fred and George's classmates had chased them down, demanding their money back. Alex and Snape shared a similar look and they both let out a laugh as they began to set up for the next class.


	14. Why should I care if other people like m...

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Thanks for all the reviews so far. I am glad that you all like my story so far. Here's another chapter. Let me know what you think about this one!!!

Chapter Fourteen

Alex was bored. Ever since they had called a truce, she had found herself with nothing to do when she wasn't doing her duties as a student teacher. Today was probably the worse case of boredom that Alex had ever felt. Everyone seemed to be busy but her. Lia was working on grading some projects and didn't want to be bothered. Fiona and Remus had both disappeared off somewhere. Now Alex was making her way down into the dungeons to see what Snape was up to. Maybe he could give her something to work on. 

She stood outside the classroom, watching Snape work on some potion. He seemed deep in thought and concentration.

"What are you making?" Alex asked as she stepped into the room. He glanced up at her, looking somewhat surprised at seeing her. It was rare that she came down there in the evenings. In fact, outside of class and mealtimes he rarely saw her.

"Well? Are you going to answer me or just ignore me?" Alex asked taking her usual seat on top of a desk.

"What do you want, Alexandra?" Snape sighed impatiently.

"I'm bored." Alex shrugged, swinging her legs back and forth.

"And may I ask how that concerns me?" he asked as he stirred the bubbling potion counterclockwise.

"Well since you are supposed to be teaching me how to be a teacher, I figured that you would have something teacherish for me to do." Alex stated, watching the potion turn from green to a pale yellow. Snape glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What, did your little group get tired of having you bug them?" he asked mockingly. Alex shot him a dirty look.

"Actually no. Lia is grading some projects and Fiona and Remus have disappeared off somewhere. Where, I don't really want to know." Alex chuckled. She could tell that there was something between the two. Snape just shook his head and turned back to the potion.

"Well, aren't you gonna give me something to do?" Alex asked rather indignantly. 

"And what, per say, do you suggest I give you to do, Alexandra?" Snape questioned, clearly irritated at her.

"I don't know. Grade papers, make a potion, something!" Alex shrugged. Snape realized that he wouldn't get her to leave him alone unless he gave her something to do. Glancing around the room he spotted a rather large pile of papers that were waiting to be graded. 

" Fine. You can grade those papers there. And make sure you grade them correctly. I don't wish to have to go back and correct your mistakes along with the students." Snape said, pointing to the to pile. Alex grinned happily and took a seat behind his desk, grabbing a quill from the desk drawer. The papers were from the 5th years. They were essays written about the forgetfulness potion.

"I expect that you will find Neville Longbottom's essay to be well written since he seems to have already mastered the art of forgetfulness." Snape commented as Alex started on the first essay.

"Why do you have to be so mean to him? It's not his fault that he isn't any good at potions. Not everyone is perfect." Alex argued as she scanned through Amaya Grace's essay. It was good but very monotonous. It just didn't flow right.

"The boy is a simpleton. He destroys everything he comes in contact with." Snape argued, adding in another ingredient into the potion he was brewing.

"You have no faith in people, do you Severus?" Alex asked as she marked some errors that she found in the essay.

"Who said that you can call me that and how does Longbottom count as people?" Snape asked.

"You don't really expect me to call you Professor, do you? Plus, you're calling me Alexandra." Alex stated, picking up another paper. "And its not just Neville that you don't have faith in. You put no faith in anyone. Especially me! You have acted like you are waiting for me to mess up ever since I first started here." Snape made to deny the accusations but Alex cut him off.

"Don't you dare deny it! You don't trust anyone. How do expect people to like you when you are so horrible to them?" Alex asked marking a grade on Draco Malfoy's essay.

"Why should I care if other people like me or not?" Snape questioned, acting like that had been the most foolish idea he had ever heard of in his life.

"Well I can see not caring when it concerns the students, but what about friends? Aren't you ever lonely?" Alex asked, wave of sympathy overcoming her for some odd reason.

"Why the bloody hell do you care, Miss Harper? As I see it, my social life and my feelings are of no concern to you." Snape lashed out, clearly annoyed. Alex just rolled her eyes and continued on with the essays silently. 

It was getting late in the evening and Alex was only halfway through the stack of papers. Snape was still working on the potion and Alex had finally figured out what it was. It was a pepper up potion. Probably for the infirmary stock, since he was brewing it in a large amount. Suddenly, Snape let out a gasp of pain and clutched his forearm.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, thinking that he had burned himself.

"Something just came up. I have to see the Headmaster. When you are done, lock the door on your way out." Snape instructed then left the room before Alex could reply. Alex stared at the empty doorway in confusion. What the hell just happened? She shrugged and went back to work on the essays.

It was very late when Snape came back from the death eater meeting. He hadn't been able to find out any helpful information. Voldemort still didn't trust him enough to confide in him. The classroom was cleaned up, surprisingly. The pepper up potion was finished and set out in the vials he had intended to put it in. The essays were all corrected and stacked in a neat pile on his desk. Snape couldn't help but feel impressed as he surveyed the room. Glancing through the essays, he realized that she had graded them fairly and to his liking. Heaving a thankful sigh, Snape locked up the classroom and headed to his quarters in attempt to get a few hours of sleep before the first class.


	15. A Quick Note

Hey everyone

This is just a quick note to tell you about my friend's story. She had posted the story here on FF.net that my story goes along with. I am begging you all to check it out and tell her what you think. And if you don't…. well let's leave that to your imaginations. ;)

For some odd reason the link won't show up on here. So just search for writer name: weaselgirl19

She has 2 stories and both involve characters from my story but I highly suggest Sharing the Same Tears because that is the once she is concentrating more on. And it is also my fav!!!!!

~Windy


	16. If I knew this was going to be a male ba...

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OK everyone. I am putting this chapter up with 16 since they both are rather short. Let me know what you think.

Chapter Fifteen

"Hey Alex, care to join us for lunch?" Lia asked walking into the empty potions classroom. Alex looked up from the pile of essays she was grading. Ever since she had asked for something to do, Snape had been giving her piles of papers to grade. 

"Yeah, sure. I can finish this later." Alex said and stood up. Snape walked back into the room with the book he had been previously looking for. He looked slightly surprised to see Lia down in the dungeons. It wasn't a place she frequented often.

"I'm going to lunch. Did you want to join us?" Alex offered. Snape just looked at her and moved over to his desk and opened the book.

"I'll take that as a no." Alex sighed. Snape said nothing but continued shifting through the book. "Fine. I'll be back later." The two girls left the classroom and headed up the stairs to where Remus and Fiona were waiting.

"What was that?" Lia grinned as they walked along the corridors.

"What was what?" Alex asked, glancing at her friend.

"You asking Snape to join us. I would have thought that you would be looking for any opportunity to be away from him." Lia said.

"I just feel sorry for him I guess." Alex shrugged. They came to the kitchens and went inside to where Remus and Fiona sat waiting for them.

"Miss Alex! Miss Fiona! Can Dobby get you something to eat?" Dobby asked appearing in front of them. Both girls grinned down at him.

"Thanks. I'll have a salad with a light Italian dressing and a glass of pumpkin juice." Alex said. Lia indicated that she would have the same.

"Took you two long enough." Fiona grinned as they sat down.

"Sorry. Alex was busy asking Snape to join us." Lia teased. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Why would you do something like that?" Remus asked as if offended.

"I was just trying to be nice. Geez… you would have thought I asked You Know Who to join us." Alex replied.

"I still can't believe that you two established a truce." Fiona said shaking her head in disappointment. 

"It wasn't like we had a choice. The Headmaster made us. But the look on the students faces was priceless when we were being nice to each other!" Alex laughed.

"Yeah, from what Ayla told me Fred and George are in some major trouble with all the houses. Seems they can't pay everyone back from the betting pool." Lia commented, taking a bite of her salad.

"That reminds me! Severus owes me ten galleons!" Alex cried out. "We made a bet on if the students would fall for the prank or not." She explained seeing the curious looks on the three faces.

"Enough about Snape. Are you guys going to the Yule Ball?" Fiona asked.

"Yule ball? What's that?" Alex asked curiously.

"It's a dance held on Christmas evening. They had it last year and they are continuing it this year since it was such a hit." Lia explained.

"Oh! It sounds like fun. I should be able to go. I'm leaving about a week after that." Alex said.

"What do you plan on doing when you get home?" Remus asked. Alex frowned thoughtfully.

"Well I have my graduation in January. But then I am not sure what I'll be doing. Maybe teaching." She shrugged. She wasn't one to really worry too much about the future. She figured that she'd worry about it when it comes.

"I wish that you'd be able to stay here. Too bad we don't have a potions position here for you." Fiona said, grinning. Alex just shook her head as she began to dig into her salad.

"What I want to know is what is going on between you two." Alex smirked, waving her fork between Remus and Fiona.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Remus denied but couldn't help but blush.

"Yeah sure ya don't." Alex laughed.

"Well you see, these two dated for a while back in our 7th year but our friend Remus screwed it up by dumping her." Lia explained.

"Typical male. Always have to screw things up." Alex laughed heartily.

"Ouch! If I knew this was going to be a male bashing session, I would have taken my lunch elsewhere." Remus replied with a smile.

"So you two are getting back together?" Alex asked. Both blushed and smiled, refusing to fully answer the question.

"I get it! I'll stop now." Alex laughed, throwing her arms up in surrender. "But I must get going anyways. I have to finish those papers before the next class."

"All right. We'll see you at dinner." Lia smiled. Alex waved and left the kitchens, heading back down to the dungeons.


	17. You’re very pretty, did you know that?

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Chapter Sixteen

Alex was sitting at the desk in the dimly lit classroom. The only sound was the scratching of the quill as she worked on grading some tests that had been taken earlier that day. It was late and as far as she knew, she was the only one that was still awake in the school. Sighing, she grabbed another test from the large stack.

"You're here late tonight." Snape commented, suddenly appearing in front of her. Alex let out a startled yelp.

"Don't do that!" She cried out taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart. He laughed and smirked down at her.

"You should go to bed." He said studying her closely. It was quite obvious that she was very tired and was fighting to stay awake.

"I know. It seems that this pile just never end. What are you still doing up?" Alex asked curiously as she laid the quill down on the desk.

"Couldn't sleep." Snape shrugged. Alex peered up at him. He was acting strange tonight.

"What? No students wandering the halls for you to take house points away from?" Alex teased lightly.

"No. It seems that all have found some common sense and stayed in their beds tonight." He replied. Snape slowly reached out and gently brushed a stray hair out of Alex's face. His fingers trailed lightly over her cheek as he studied her intensely.

"You're very pretty, did you know that?" he observed. Alex just looked at him, suddenly very confused. What was he getting at? Was he trying to play some joke even though they had called a truce?

"Severus…" She started but was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers. Alex couldn't help but respond, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. 

"Alexandra" he moaned softly as he deepened the kiss, holding her tightly to him. The clasp came undone from her hair and Snape buried his hands in the waves. 

Alex's eyes shot wide open, sitting up in bed. She looked widely around and realized that she had only been dreaming. 

"What the hell was that?" Alex asked out loud, in shock of her dream. Why was she dreaming about Snape kissing her? She hated him, loathed him. She didn't want to kiss him, did she? No! Of course not! Unable to fall asleep, Alex headed into the shower trying to erase the dream from memory.

In class, Alex was observing, as Snape was criticizing the class for their poor test grades. Frankly, Alex didn't really think that they were that bad seeing that the test was pretty difficult but she choice to keep her mouth closed for once. As she watched Snape pace back and forth in front of her, she couldn't help but remember the dream she had last night. Or rather this morning. Alex couldn't figure out what had triggered it. She had almost forgotten the kiss that had happened a few weeks ago. And it wasn't like he was drop dead gorgeous. But he wasn't ugly either. Just rather dark and imposing. Unfortunately, Alex couldn't help but admit that that was what she was attracted to. Scott was like that. Not really dark, though. He had the whole blonde hair, blue eyes thing going for him but he was very controlling and manipulative. But Alex had sworn off men like him. She didn't want to be hurt again. And it had worked so far, until now. Was she actually admitting that she was liked the professor? The one who angered and annoyed her constantly? She didn't really know. 

"Miss Harper? Are you paying attention?" Snape sneered. Alex quickly realized that all eyes were on her, making her turn bright red. While she had been lost in thought, Snape had turned his attention away from the students and onto her, asking her to explain to the class a certain procedure that most had gotten wrong on the test. 

"Miss Harper?" Snape asked again clearly annoyed at her for not paying attention.

"What did you say, Professor?" Alex asked trying to compose herself.

"The procedure on the test. Will you care to explain the correct way?" Snape barked, leaning over her in an imposing stature. Alex's eyes flew to his and all she could picture the dream.

"I gotta go." Alex said hurriedly and threw open the door, running up the stairs, leaving behind a very confused class and an even more bewildered professor.


	18. The muppets, Alexandra?

Okay everyone; here is another chapter of my story!! It's pretty long too!! Tell me what you think! Oh and thanks to all who have reviewed so far!!! I love getting those messages saying that I have a new review!!! J

**Chapter Seventeen**

            It was the middle of the night and Alex was pacing the dark hallway outside of her room. She had been wakened by the huge storm that raged on outside the castle walls. With each flash of lightening and boom of the thunder she couldn't help but jump. Alex had never gotten over her childhood fear of storms and was now trying her best to not think about it.

            "Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side? Rainbows are visions but only illusions. And rainbows have nothing to hide." Alex sang softly to herself as she padded up and down the hallway in her fuzzy purple slippers.

            Alex couldn't help but remember the dream she had been having right before the storm woke her up. It was the kiss…again! What was wrong with her? She had thought that by avoiding Snape, she would have been able to forget. But luck definitely was not on her side. 

                "So we've been told and some choose to believe it. I know they're wrong, wait and see. Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers, and me." She continued singing softly as the rain pounded on the window. Alex still didn't know how she felt about Snape. She didn't want to believe that she was falling for him but she was exhibiting all the usual symptoms. She couldn't stop thinking about him, got butterflies whenever they were in the same room together. Dinner had been hell, sitting next to him. She had barely touched her food and when she had been asked about her lack of appetite, Alex had claimed that she just wasn't hungry.  But why Severus Snape? He hated her! Unrequited love was unquestionably a road that she did not want to travel! But who said she was in love with him? She really wasn't, was she?

            "Who said that every wish would be heard and answered, and wished on the morning star. Somebody thought of that and someone believed it. Look what's it done so far." Alex continued singing, shuddering at the loud rumble of thunder.

            "The muppets, Alexandra?" Snape smirked casually leaning in the archway. Alex jumped, startled at his sudden presence. How long had he been there, watching her? Obviously long enough to figure out what song she had been singing. 

            "What have I told you about sneaking up on people?!" Alex frowned, crossing her arms in front of her. 

            "Why aren't you asleep?" he asked. He couldn't help but notice her choice of  night attire consisted of fuzzy slippers and a pale yellow pajama set that had the words Bite Me written across the front. He had to bite his tongue to keep from making a comment about them.

  Before Alex his could answer his question, a bolt of lightening cracked through the sky. She jumped and found herself clutching at Snape like a little child. Both of them froze for a moment, as Alex willed her heart to calm down. She didn't know if it was beating so hard from the storm, or being so near Snape.

            "I'm sorry." She said softly, stepping away from him embarrassed at her reaction to the storm.

            "I never pictured you being afraid of a thunder storm." Snape remarked casually, as he readjusted his cloak.

            "Well I never pictured you as liking the muppets!" Alex shot back, unable to hide her grin.

            "I never said that I liked them." He denied, frowning down at her. Damn, she never realized just how tall he was. He towered right over her 5'5" figure.

            "But you know who they are. Must mean something, since they are, after all, a muggle thing." Alex smirked. Snape just glared at her, stubbornly refusing to make any further comments on the topic.

            "So why are you here? No students roaming the halls for you to terrorize?" Alex grinned but then froze. Why did that sound so familiar? Oh shit! She had made that remark in that stupid dream!!!

            "Alexandra? Are you quite all right?" Snape asked seeing the look of shock that crossed over her face.

            "Wha?" Alex mumbled, coming to her senses. Nothing was gonna happen. This was nothing like her dream. "I'm fine." She quickly assured him.

            "Then if you are not going to be returning to bed, would you care for a cup of tea?" Snape asked politely. Alex looked up at him and gave a soft laugh.

            "Sure. I would like that." She agreed. Wow, he was actually being civil. Not nice; he made fun of the muppets. Still, he was being rather courteous. Alex idly wondered if it was because she had invited him to lunch the other day. 

            Snape led her down into the dungeons and past the classroom. Honestly, Alex could admit that she had no clue where his quarters were. She assumed that they were in the dungeons since she would see him head down there after meals, but she never knew where they actually were. You know, she didn't even know where the Slytherin common room was! 

            Snape stopped in front of a portrait of a dark wizard brewing a potion. Mumbling something, the picture swung open, revealing the dark room inside. Snape stepped in first, casting a quick Lumos spell to light to torches and fireplace. His quarters were different from hers since he actually had divided rooms, where hers were all just combined in one large room, except for the bathroom of course. 

            "Have a seat." Snape said indication to the couch and armchairs that sat in front of the fireplace. Alex sat down in one of the dark green armchairs and watched Snape as he conjured up a pot of tea and two cups. Alex had never been much of a tea drinker before coming to England, but found herself becoming addicted to it almost like coffee. Now coffee, that was what she missed. She definitely could use a good Starbucks. 

She quickly came out of her thoughts as Snape handed her the steaming cup and she took a small sip of it.

            "Is it to your liking?" Snape asked as he took a seat in the armchair across from her. Alex nodded with a smile. He must have known that she liked a lot of sugar in her tea, since it was definitely how she would have made it.

            "Yes, thank you." 

            "How long have you been afraid of storms?" Snape asked as he stirred his tea with a small spoon.

            "Ever since I was a child. I guess I just never liked the loud noises." Alex admitted, blushing slightly.

            "I see." Snape said.

            "Were you ever afraid of anything, when you were a child? Or were you never a child?" Alex teased gently. Snape's eyes flashed warningly but continued to answer the question.

            "I never did like cats much." 

            "Cats? Really? Cause I actually had you pinned as a cat person." Alex laughed gently.

            "No. I cannot understand why anyone would like horrid animals that like to sit on your face while you sleep." Snape voiced, suppressing a shudder at the thought. Alex just laughed and shook her head, turning to look at the fire.

            "Why do you detest me calling you Alexandra?" he asked after a few moments of silence. Alex looked back over at him.

            "It's not just you, Sev. It just reminds me of something in the past that I have tried very hard to forget." Alex admitted. Snape looked at her closely, trying to imagine what she could be hiding.

            "What is it that you are trying to forget?" he finally asked. Alex laughed lightly.

            "You're not going to leave this alone, are you?" Snape just looked at her evenly. Alex sighed and set the teacup down on the table.

            "When I was younger I attended the Salem Academy of Witchcraft. When I was fifteen years old, I met Scott.  He was perfect. Scott was popular, gorgeous, everything I thought I had wanted in a man., at least when I was at that age."

"When we started dating, everyday I would wonder why he would pick someone like me when he could have had any girl in the school. I mean, I'm not that great. Yeah, I have my good points and all, but I was not the type of girl you would expect to be dating Scott." Alex paused for a moment, trying to gather up enough strength to let herself remember.

            "At first it was great. I was living on cloud nine. But we all know that that doesn't last. Scott changed. He started getting jealous. Thought that I was cheating on him. Like that would happen. I loved him. But soon I was no longer allowed to talk to any of the guys at my school. Then not much later, he started pulling me away from my friends. He made it so that he was the only person that seemed to matter in my life. I felt so alone."

            "Why didn't you just end your relationship with him?" Snape asked, over his cup of tea.

            "I couldn't. I loved him. He actually made me believe that I couldn't live without him." Alex admitted.

            "Did he ever hurt you?"

            "Physically? No. He was too smart for that. But emotionally…yeah. He destroyed me. But my senior year I stopped it. I went to the headmistress and told her what was going on. They all pretty much knew anyway. But they couldn't do anything until I came forward and asked for help. Scott was transferred out and I went through a couple years of therapy in order to repair the damage he had done to me." 

            "What does that have to do with your name?" Snape asked. Alex studied him for a moment. His mask was on and Alex couldn't tell what exactly Snape was thinking. Did he think her to be foolish for letting Scott do that to her? 

What Alex didn't know was that Snape was amazed how she had fought and survived. Emotional abuse was as serious and hurtful as physical. He had seen many people lose the will to fight and succumb to the abuse. His mother was one of those people.

            "He would always call me Alexandra when he was angry. And when you would say my name, I would hear him. Making his wild threats, calling me names. But now, I don't hear him anymore. I guess I have gotten used to you called me Alexandra." Alex stated, giving a short laugh. They fell into silence, both just watching the flames in the fireplace.

            It wasn't long that Snape realized that Alex had fallen asleep. Standing up, he gathered her up in his arms, careful to not wake her. She instinctively placed her head against his shoulder as he carried her up the stairs to her room.

            "White roses." Snape said and the portrait swung open. He moved quickly inside, and placed Alex on the bed, covering her with the thick blanket. The storm had died down outside and was just a light drizzle. 

            He looked down at her as he tucked her in. She was so beautiful. He couldn't imagine her being broken by that moron. He couldn't help but feel amazed by the strength that she had, but idly wondered if she was fully healed as she claimed to be. 

            Snape brushed a stray hair off her face. Did this mean that he was falling in love with her? His head denied it but his heart spoke out louder, claiming that he felt more then he would like to admit. Even if she would even consider returning the feelings, they wouldn't be able to form any sort of relationship. It was even dangerous for him to have her as a friend. Not with the position he was in due to Voldemort. Severus feared that if the Dark Lord found out his feelings for the girl, he would use it against him, making him reveal himself as a spy or even having severe harm come to her or even himself. No, a relationship was not possible.

            "Sev?" Alex whispered quietly, turning her cheek into his palm.

            "Yes?" he replied, his heart feeling heavy due to his thoughts.

            "Thank you." She said and fell back asleep. A small smile appeared on Snape's face as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

            "You're welcome Alexandra." He then left her room, heading back to his own.

Next Chapter: Alex confides in Lia 

Please review!!!


	19. Ah unrequited love is a bitch

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Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update. But heres the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Its not one of my best and eventful chapters but the next one I will be posting is a ton better. I am almost done with it and should be posting it hopefully by Monday or earlier. Please review this chapter and lemme know what you think so far!!!

Chapter Eighteen

"What is it, Alex? I know there's something bothering you and you are going to spit it out now." Lia stated as the two walked around the school grounds. It had been a few weeks since the night in Snape's quarters. Alex had awoken the next morning even more confused then before. Now every time she was with him, she found herself analyzing her feelings for him and the possibility of his feelings for her.

It was early December now and Alex knew that she had only a few weeks before she had to return home.

"You know, you're starting to sound like me. I think I am becoming a bad influence" Alex chuckled lightly, trying to think of how exactly to tell her friend what was bothering her.

"No, I think it is us who are the bad influences." Lia replied with a smile. She adjusted her winter cloak as she waited for Alex to start talking. Alex knew that she could trust Lia with this, and not be laughed or lectured at. Or at least she hoped so.

"I think I am falling in love with him." She blurted out. Lia looked at her quizzically.

"Who?" she asked but then interrupted. "Wait. Let me guess. Remus?"

"No!" Alex said as if insulted. She knew that Fiona and Remus were just starting to get their relationship back together after so many years of being apart.

"Hmm. Hagrid?" Lia asked thoughtfully, trying to think of all the eligible bachelors at the school that weren't students. Alex shot her a dark look, clearly saying that it was not the half giant.

"Dumbledore?" Lia teased lightly. 

"LIA!" Alex yelled, starting to get annoyed. She was trying to be serious but Lia was making that hard to do.

"I think you have been hanging around Severus too long. You're starting to sound just like him when you get annoyed." Lia stated rather indignantly. Suddenly, she froze. "No! Not him!"

"If you mean Severus, then yes." Alex sighed, adjusting the scarf around her neck.

"I should have known!" Lia cried out with a laugh. "I mean, you two hating each other from the moment you first met? How does that not scream out sexual tension?!" 

"Yeah well, what the hell am I supposed to do about it now? It's obvious that he does not feel the same way about me." Alex sighed, kicking at a pebble with the toe of her boot.

"Ah unrequited love is a bitch. But who says he doesn't feel the same way? From what I can see, there's tension on both sides." Lia commented. Alex looked up at her.

"That doesn't mean that he feels the same way."

" Oh and did he tell you that? Or are you just making assumptions." Lia asked annoyed. Truthfully, Lia knew Snape well enough from childhood, that she did know that he did have feelings towards the student teacher. But it wasn't really him to go after a girl, especially since he didn't even know how Alex truly felt about him.

"He made my hair green. You don't get any more hateful then that." Alex stated. Lia looked at the girl like she was crazy. 

"Yes but do you remember what you did to him before that? It was pretty funny, anyway." Lia laughed lightly.

"But he didn't have to kiss me!" Alex blurted out. She realized what she had just revealed and felt herself turning red as Lia gaped at her.

"He kissed you? Why didn't you tell me?" she gasped.

"I don't know. It just didn't seem like something worth mentioning." Alex shrugged lightly.

"But don't you understand? This is the evidence that you are looking for. He obviously has feelings for you if he kissed you."

"I… I don't know." Alex sighed out of exasperation. Her feelings were flitting from one to another in the matter of seconds. Maybe all these feelings she was having was nothing. Maybe she was looking too deep or something. But then why couldn't she get him out of her head?!

"He also invited me down to his sitting room for a cup of tea one night since I couldn't sleep due to the storm. And when I had fallen asleep, he took me back to my rooms." Alex admitted guiltily. It was that night that gave her the speck of hope that he could feel something for her.

"This is what we have to do. We have to make him realize his feelings for you! It's obvious that he feels something if he's doing that for you, but he must not realize the extent of his feelings yet" Lia said excitedly. A plan was forming fast in her mind, and Alex was slightly worried about what her friend was thinking.

"And how do you propose we do that? And you better not be thinking of anything that involves me taking off my clothes or any form of seduction!" Alex warned, smirking slightly. Although the idea might work, she wasn't about to stoop so low just to get a man.

"No of course not! That's more of Fiona's style anyway." Lia said grinning. "This is what I was thinking. The Yule Ball is in exactly two weeks from today. I am thinking the simple art of blowing his mind away when he sees you all decked out. Make him weak in the knees and all that." 

"I can't really picture Severus as the type to go weak in the knees." Alex laughed. Lia just shrugged and continued.

"There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend so we can go and find some dress robes. I still need to get some as well. I remember this one set there, that would be perfect on you, too!" Alex listened silently to her friend as she prattled on about the plan, secretly praying that she wasn't about to make a fool out of herself.

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Next Chapter: Christmas Morning

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!


	20. Oh how precious You got me a box

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Ok heres the next chapter. I was too impatient to wait so I decided to put this up today instead of Monday, like I had been thinking. The next chapter is far from done so it will be a little bit longer of a wait for that. But hopefully not too long. I am planning on working on it tonight. Please tell me what you think so far?

Chapter Nineteen

The two weeks passed so quickly, that suddenly it was Christmas morning. Alex was awoken that winter morning with several owls delivering wrapped packages from her family at home. They had sent her some odd little trinkets, but Alex knew that there was probably more waiting for her back home. It was rather expensive to send packages over large distances and she didn't pretend to know how owl post worked overseas. 

Alex threw open the window, revealing the blanket of white snow that had covered the ground. It was a picture perfect Christmas!! Alex rummaged around under her bed, pulling out a large, rectangle shaped box wrapped in bright wrapping paper that had Merry Christmas written on it in glittery colors. Not even bothering to change out of her pajama pants and tee shirt, Alex rushed out of the room and down to the dungeons still barefoot. 

She stopped in front of the portrait that served as the Potions Master's entrance to his quarters. Knocking lightly, Alex waited for him to answer, shifting impatiently from one foot to another trying to avoid the cold draft of the floor. Finally the portrait swung aside, revealing Snape dressed in a dark green robe. His eyebrow rose in that condescending way that it usually does, at the sight of her.

"Merry Christmas Severus!" Alex gushed happily, pushing her way into the room.

"May I ask what you are doing here so bloody early? The sun has only just risen." Snape commented, letting the portrait swing back into place.

"Oh please. You have probably been up for hours. So don't try feeding me some cock and bull story about how you were sleeping." Alex playfully lectured.

"But I was sleeping. As far as I see it, I had no reason to be up early this morning." Snape argued back, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Fine then. I'll just leave and take your Christmas present with me." Alex said making her way back to the door.

"Present? You got me a present?" Snape asked, actually sounding a tad bit shocked.

"Of course I did! You didn't really think that I was going to get you nothing, did you?" Alex stated. A cheeky grin spread across her face. Snape eyed the box she held, suspiciously.

"What is it?" he asked. Alex pulled him over to the chair.

"Open it and see." Alex was as giddy as a young child and strangely enough, it did not seem to annoy Snape, as one might had thought it would. Snape took the box from Alex and laid it on his lap. The bright wrapping gleamed up at him, and he couldn't help but grimace at the sparkly letters.

"Oh stop and just open it." Alex laughed kneeling by his side. Snape glanced at her and slowly ripped open the paper, revealing a plain white box.

"Oh how precious. You got me a box." Snape taunted, smirking down at her.

"Okay I am laughing. Really. Now stop being a git." Alex frowned, moving the paper away and tossing it on the floor.

"I do believe you have been here too long, Alexandra. You are beginning to sound like a bloody Englishman." Snape chuckled. Alex hit him in the shoulder as he lifted the cover of the box revealing a dark green dress robe.

"I thought that you could use a change from black so I had this made for you." Alex explained, sitting back on her heels, to watch and see if he liked them. Snape took the robe out of the box and held it out in front of him. The lining on the inside of the robe was silver and seemed to be a satin material when the outer material was almost like velvet.

"Look at the back." Alex said eagerly. Snape turned it around and on the back was the Slytherin crest in a color just a hint lighter then the dark green of the robes.

"It's embossed into the material rather then just sewn on." Alex explained. 

"It's extraordinary." he stated, running his hand over the raised material. Alex couldn't help but grin at his pleased expression.

"I am glad you like it." Snape placed the robe back into the box, and stood up from the chair.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked watching him moved over to the side of the room.

"Well, you do want your present, don't you?" he asked looking over his shoulder at her. Alex's eyes widened in surprise.

"You got me a present?" 

"Surely you did not believe that I would allow you to give me a gift without anything in return." He smirked as he rummaged though a drawer at his desk in the far corner of the room.

"Well actually, yeah I did." Alex admitted with a laugh. She moved into the seat that Snape had vacated, watching him pull a small box from the drawer. He moved back over to her and handed her the box, standing behind her as she tore eagerly at the green paper it was wrapped in. 

The box was a dark blue and Alex lifted the lid, revealing a crystal pendant in the shape of a teardrop, on a silver chain.

"It's beautiful." Alex said as she lifted the necklace from the box. The crystal sparkled in the light, casting a rainbow glare across the walls.

"Will you…?" Alex asked Snape, looking over her shoulder at him. He nodded slightly and took the necklace from her hand. He draped the necklace around her neck, brushing her hair away in order to fasten the clasp. Alex's hand went to the crystal; it felt slightly warm against her skin.

"Thank you." Alex smiled gently. Their eyes locked for a moment and finally Alex looked away.

"You are going to the ball tonight, aren't you?" she asked suddenly.

"Unfortunately. The headmaster feels that I need to socialize more and left me no choice but to be present tonight." Snape explained with a frown etched on his face.

"Well don't sound so excited about it." Alex said rolling her eyes at his unpleasantness.

"I do not fancy spending my evening chaperoning a bunch of children. I would rather be doing something more productive." He replied.

"Something more productive?" Alex questioned. "But it's Christmas. You're not supposed to do anything productive on holidays!" 

"I do believe, Miss Harper, that you are starting to sound like the impertinent students that attend this school." Snape smirked, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh but you know you like it." Alex grinned and winked, standing up from the chair.

"I am beginning to believe that you do not know me at all." He stated, slightly amused.

"Oh I know you better then you would like to think." Alex smirked. "But if you would excuse me, I have other gifts to hand out before I start to get ready for the ball tonight."

"Very well. I will see you tonight then." He replied curtly.

"Yes you will." Alex smiled and as she was about to pull the door closed behind her, she turned back to him. "Oh and Sev? Thank you for the necklace." Snape allowed a brief smile as she closed the door and made her way back upstairs.

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Next Chapter: The Yule Ball and Alex tells Severus how she really feels. How will he react???

Please review!!!!!


	21. I’m in love with you!

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OK everyone…here's the next chapter. This is probably the main turning point of my story!!! It pretty long so I should hear no complaints about the length of this chapter. ;) I really hope you all like this cause I have been working very hard on this for the past few weeks. Please lemme know what you think!!!!

*But never is a promise and you can't afford to lie*

Chapter Twenty

It was evening and Alex knew that she was due to be at the Great Hall soon for the Yule Ball. She stood in front of her mirror, studying her reflection with a critical eye. The dress robe that Lia had picked out was a pale blue dress robe that had a sort of silver shimmer in it. They found among racks of robes at Gladrags' Wizard Wear. Alex couldn't help but agree with her friend that the dress robe was absolutely gorgeous. It fit her figure perfectly and also brought out her gray eyes, making them look almost blue. 

Alex had chosen to wear her hair twisted up in a mass of soft curls with a few strands down, framing her face. Professor Sprout had supplied a handful of vanilla flowers from the greenhouse, which Alex entwined into the mass of curls on her head. The light fragrance also served as her perfume for that evening.

Would this due? Was this enough to sweep Severus Snape off his feet? Or would he even notice her amongst the crowd of students and teachers? He would have to notice. If she didn't make him, Alex was sure that Lia would put her hand in it. But could she pull this off? Did he really feel as strongly for her as she hoped? Or was she imagining things? Alex frowned into the mirror as she fingered the crystal pendant that hung around her neck. 

No, she was just being stupid. He didn't see her like that. Lia was probably reading too much into it. They really weren't even friends though, were they? Yeah okay so they have had some actual pleasant conversations and also exchanged Christmas presents. But Alex was sure that he probably bought gifts for most of the staff anyway. Probably some Hogwarts rule or something. The entire staff had to buy each other presents, or something of the like. Or maybe the necklace was just something he had laying around and since she had gotten him something, Snape felt guilty and gave her the necklace. 

That was it! It had to be. Why else would he get her a present? And when did he have time to even go out and buy her something. As far as she knew they were just business colleagues and nothing more. Alex couldn't even imagine why she even began to believe that someone like him would even look twice at her. He was sophisticated and high-class. And here she was, just a plain and rash girl…really almost a child compared to him. If she could picture Snape with anyone, it would be someone rich and elegant. More then she could ever hope to be.

Oh how glad she was that she finally came to her senses before it was too late. Alex could just picture the look on Snape's face as she poured out her feelings to him. He would laugh right in her face. No, she would not subject herself to that humiliation. Nope, she would just stay up in her room and pray that everyone forgot about her and she would be safe. Safe from her feelings and future humiliation

Snape walked swiftly through the halls, his green dress robe billowing out behind him. The Yule Ball had been in progress for some time, when Lia and Professor Dumbledore came up to him. It seemed that Alex had not yet shown up and many people were worried that something could have happened to her. Or, at least, that's what the two of them told him. Snape knew that there was more to it then that. They were up to something, and that was never good. But Snape wasn't worried. Not about Alex! The silly girl probably lost track of time or fell asleep since she had been up so bloody early. Nope, Severus Snape was not worried about her one bit.

Why would he worry anyway? It wasn't like he actually cared about Alex. The girl was audacious and troublesome. She wasn't any better then the bunch of dunderheads that he was forced to teach day in and day out. But if he really felt this way, why did he find himself quickening his pace to her quarters?

The rush of thoughts had just finally started to slow down in Alex's head, when a loud and impatient knock came at the door. Curious on who it could possibly be, Alex opened the door, revealing a rather stern looking Snape behind it. She froze at the sight of him. What the hell was he doing here?

"Well I see nothing horrible has befallen on you, as some were lead to believe. So then may I inquire why you are extremely late to the function downstairs?" Snape asked, looking down his nose at her.

"Umm…well…I…" Alex stumbled. What was she supposed to say? That she was scared of what she may say to him so she decided to hide in her room instead? Like he would buy that one, no matter how truthful it was. Snape folded his arms across his chest, as he waited for Alex's answer.

"I guess I was running later then I had thought." Alex sighed, knowing that now she would have to go through with it. There was no way that Lia was going to let her back out now. Damn her!

"Well since it appears that you are now ready, may we proceed to the Great Hall before the Headmaster decides to send out yet another search party?" he asked, rather arrogantly.

"They sent you as my search party?" Alex asked, trying not too laugh. "Are you sure they weren't just trying to get rid of you for awhile?"

"And why would you think that?" Snape asked, moving slightly to allow Alex to exit the room.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe to prevent you from taking house points away for awhile." Alex teased, letting the portrait swing close behind her. 

"As a matter of fact, I have yet to take away any house points today." He replied shortly.

"Oh, is that your Christmas present to the students?" Alex laughed as they began walking down to the Great Hall.

"No it is not. My present was assigning them extra homework over the holidays." He smirked. Alex rolled her eyes at him. He would be the one to do something like that.

"You're hopeless."

"Pardon?" he asked looking over at her.

"Never mind." Alex grinned. They had arrived at the Great Hall and the room was decorated beautifully. Garlands of mistletoe and ivy were draped from the enchanted ceiling and everything seemed to be covered in a glittering silver-white frost. The giant Christmas tree stood in the corner lavishly decorated. The House tables had been replaced by smaller ones, spread around the edge of the dance floor. 

"Wow! It's beautiful." Alex gushed out. Snape just shrugged and lead her farther into the room. Most of the students and staff were already out on the dance floor dancing to an upbeat song played by the band, which Alex didn't recognize. 

"Ah Severus! I see you have found her." Dumbledore smiled as he approached along with Lia. 

"Yes Headmaster. It seems that she had only lost track of time." Snape replied curtly. Lia shot Alex a look of disbelief. She knew that Alex had started to chicken out. Like Lia would actually let that happen. 

"Let's get something to drink." Lia said pulling Alex away from Dumbledore and Snape. They headed over to a table against the far wall where some cider was set out. "So you started to get cold feet, didn't you?"

"I don't think I can go through with this." Alex sighed, as she poured herself a glass of the cider.

"What do you mean, you can't?" Lia asked with raised eyebrows. Was Alex really going to throw their whole plan down the drain?

"Can't, as in won't. I am not about to make a fool out of myself! I don't think I could handle him laughing at me." 

"Severus is not going to laugh at you." Lia smiled encouragingly. 

"Yeah and so you say now." Alex sighed, rolling her eyes. She tugged gently at the crystal around her neck, as she tried to decide what to do. Lia's eyes fell upon the necklace.

"Where did you get that?" she asked quizzically. The crystal glinted off the candlelight in the room, surprising Lia that she didn't notice it sooner.

"This? Oh, it was my Christmas present from Severus. It's pretty, isn't it?" Alex said smiling slightly. 

"Yes, it is." Lia said rather distractedly as she sought out Snape though the crowd. It was obvious that he hadn't told Alex everything about that necklace, but Lia did not feel that it was her place to tell. But this definitely showed that Severus Snape, with the cold heart and all, had fallen head over heels for Alexandra Harper. Now all they needed was to tell each other, and everything would be good, right?

"Alex! There you are. We were wondering what happened to you." Fiona smiled as her and Remus came through the crowd. 

"Sorry. I lost track of time." Alex replied. Neither Remus or Fiona knew about Alex's feeling for Snape, or the plan that was in effect that night.

"So did they really send Snivellus to find you?" Fiona asked with a laugh. Both Lia and Remus frowned at her for using the childhood nickname.

"Who?" Alex asked bur had a pretty good clue who she was talking about. 

"She means Severus. Fiona, I thought we decided that we weren't going to call him that anymore. We're all on the same side now." Remus sighed as he poured himself a glass of the cider.

"Yeah but he deserved it. You saw how he treated me at the meeting the other night!" Fiona argued. Alex didn't know what meeting Fiona was talking about, but was sure it was nothing concerning her. And Alex liked Fiona, she really did. But sometimes she just plain got on Alex's nerves, like at this moment. 

"However I have treated you was well earned, Fiona." Snape said, appearing next to Alex. Fiona's eyes narrowed at him but before she had a chance to make a remark Lia cut in.

"Please. It's Christmas. Can we all just get along for the rest of tonight?" Everyone gave a slight nod in agreement and Alex felt much more at ease.

"So have you danced yet, Alex?" Remus asked. "The band this year is actually quite good. Much better then what we have had in the past."

"If Severus here was the one to escort her, then I highly doubt that she has." Fiona stated rather lightly. Well, guess the truce didn't last long, did it?

"And may I ask, what you propose by that?" Snape asked casting her a look of disdain. 

"For as long as I have known you, you have never once set foot on the dance floor. We all just assumed that you did not know how to dance." Fiona remarked. Lia shot the girl a patronizing look, hoping that she would leave it be.

"Well then I hate to ruin your assumption but I do indeed know how to dance." He replied. "Although I don't consider the way these students throw about their bodies, as actual dancing." It was also at that moment when Dumbledore has chosen to join in the group's conversation.

"Dancing, eh? You know, I can dance a pretty mean two-step." He said rocking back lightly on his heels. Alex grinned over at him.

"Well then, Headmaster, would you care to join me out on the dance floor?"

"Oh you don't want to dance with an old coot like me." Dumbledore replied with the twinkle in his eye appearing. "But Severus, why don't you dance with this young lady? Consider it as a favor for me." Everyone but Lia seemed to stare at the Headmaster as if he had lost his marbles. Alex found herself looking over at Snape, to see what he was going to do. Unwillingly, he gave Dumbledore a short nod and turned to face Alex.

"Shall we?" he asked politely, holding out his hand. She gave him her hand, and allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor. 

"You don't have to do this, you know." Alex frowned, as they maneuvered their way to a clearing in the middle of the dance floor. Snape did not reply but faced her as a slow song began to play. As he studied her, he found himself to become a bit nervous. Alex moved in closer and he wrapped his right arm about her waist, drawing her in even closer and held her right hand in his left. There was only two other times that Snape could remember, where they had been this close. The first was when he had carried her up to her rooms, after she had fallen asleep in his quarters. And the other was that very morning, when he had helped her with the necklace.

As they started dancing, Snape's footsteps began to falter out of sheer nervousness. Alex smiled up at him and with that smile all his nerves flew away. He easily stepped into the lead position, gliding her around the dance floor and swaying gently to the music. All those dancing lessons that he was forced to undertake as a child, finally paid off.

Alex couldn't help but smile as she danced with him. Oh, she knew that he hadn't wanted to but not it seemed that he was actually enjoying himself. Will wonders never cease? He held her hand in his and Alex couldn't help but feel that they fit perfectly together. She was going to have to tell him, she knew that now. And maybe, just maybe, he would return her feelings. 

It was soon later, that the song came to an end. Alex found herself pulling out of his arms and looking up at him.

"I'm going to go and get a bit of fresh air. Did you want to join me?" she asked, brushing a stray hair from her face. Looking down at her, Snape knew that he could not tell her no.

"All right. A walk in the gardens does sound pleasant at the moment." Alex grinned happily and took his arm, allowing him to lead her out the doors. 

The garden walkways were lit by fairy lights, casting an unearthly glow throughout the area. They walked in silence for awhile; Alex was trying to build up the courage to tell him how she felt. How exactly do you tell someone you were in love with them, when you didn't even know if he felt the same way?

"Alexandra…" Snape started but was immediately cut off by Alex.

"I'm in love with you!" She immediately covered her mouth with her hand in complete and utter horror. She had not meant it to come out like that. They had come to a stop on the pathway with Snape looking down at her. Alex was afraid to look at him. She was afraid that he was going to burst out in laughter at any moment. But when he didn't, she forced herself to look up at him and instead of a humorous look, she met a stony and unreadable gaze. Snape looked down at her for a moment, trying to judge if she was telling the truth. From what he could see, she was. The girl had fallen in love with him! Him, Severus Snape, evil greasy haired potions master! On the outside, he had on his uncaring façade but inside he felt like jumping for joy but also broken hearted at the same time.

He let out an impatient sigh and looked away for a moment. He hated what he was about to do. Snape was about to let the best thing that could ever happen to him, get away.

"I'm sorry." He said softly then walked away, leaving Alex standing in the middle of the garden, unable to understand what had just happened. 

****

Next Chapter: Saying an early goodbye and Lia confronts Snape about the mess he made.

Please review!!!!!


	22. I am incapable of love

I changed my story into two because it was getting quite long. The continuation is called Hiding in a Lie....please look there for all future updates!!!! And yes it is updated ;)  
  
Chapter Twenty-One  
  
Alex had gotten no sleep that night. The words 'I'm sorry' kept running through her head. What the hell was he sorry for? Sorry that he didn't love her? Sorry that she had fallen for him? Sorry that she wasn't good enough for him? Alex had no clue and she was beyond pissed.  
  
Half the night she had spent crying to her pillow. The other half was spent packing her things and making arrangements to get back to the States. Luckily enough, there was an open seat on a muggle airline that would take her to Chicago with only one layover. Alex knew that she probably wasn't doing the right thing by running away. She should probably march right down to the dungeons and demand answers from him. But she couldn't do that. Alex had done the thing that she had been praying that she wouldn't do: make a fool out of herself.  
  
So here she was, at sunrise, packing up the last of her belongings. Alex had thought that for a moment, he had actually cared about her. Now she knew that he only thought of her as a foolish little girl.  
  
"Are you ready my dear?" Dumbledore asked standing in the doorway. Alex nodded and quickly did a spell that shrunk down her luggage so that she could just fit it in her pocket. Gathering up everything, she turned to the Headmaster.  
  
"I want to thank you, for everything." she said softly.  
  
"No reason to be sentimental, my dear. I am sure that we will be seeing each other again, someday." Dumbledore said smiling gently at her. He took her arm in his and led her from the room and out into the hallway. The rest of the staff was waiting at the front entrance, well almost the entire staff. There was one person who seemed to be missing, and Dumbledore didn't think that he was about to show up anytime soon. And a pity it was because he knew that Snape had stronger feelings for the girl, but who knows what goes on in that man's head.  
  
"I really do hope so." Alex said and they walked silently through the deserted corridors. The students were still asleep. Alex was even surprised that the staff was up and was meeting to see her off. When they had reached the front door, Alex couldn't help but look around, hoping that Snape would be there. She had hoped that he would come and stop her from leaving but of course that didn't happen.  
  
"I can't believe you're leaving!" Fiona cried rushing forward to hug Alex tightly.  
  
"I know, but you can always come visit me in the States." Alex replied, trying to sound like her usually happy self.  
  
"Maybe we will, over summer vacation." Remus said smiling gently. As Fiona let her go, she found herself face to face with Lia, who quickly pulled her aside out of the other's earshot.  
  
"Now would you care to explain to me what the hell is going on?" she demanded. "Did you even tell him your feelings last night?"  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." Alex frowned, not up for the third degree from Lia.  
  
"So... then why are you leaving? And why isn't he here?" she asked. Alex could fell the hurt building up again and she silently yelled at herself that this was not the time to cry.  
  
"Well, I don't know. What do you get out of the phrase 'I'm sorry'?"   
  
"What?" Lia asked slightly confused. She was sure that Snape loved the girl and she couldn't understand what had gone wrong. But then again, neither did Alex.  
  
"That is what he said to me when I told him that I love him. And then he left me there, in the middle of the garden."  
  
"Why of all the.... wait until I get my hands on him!" Lia yelled. The insensitive bastard! Of course he would screw up like this!  
  
"Lia, it doesn't matter. I am going home and I will never see him again. And eventually, I will get over him." Alex sighed.  
  
"Well you better write!" she replied drawing her friend into a hug. She knew that Alex was hurting more then she let show and she could help but feel sorry for her.  
  
"Of course I will." Alex smiled.  
  
"Alex, you better get going or you'll miss your flight." Remus spoke up. Alex nodded and drew her cloak tight around her since it was bitter cold outside. Waving goodbye, she set out across the school grounds to where the carriage was waiting to take her to Hogsmeade. From there, she would set out for muggle London.  
  
The sun was rising and cast a warm light on the castle. As she turned around for one last look, she spotted a dark figure up in the tallest tower of the castle. It was also the nearest one to the dungeon entrance. Alex could feel her heart tighten in her chest but forced herself not to cry. She wouldn't allow him to have that kind of hold of her no longer. She was stronger then that.  
  
Snape watched as Alex climbed into the carriage and quickly disappeared from sight. He knew that she saw him and he could not help but feel more loss in that moment, then he had ever felt growing up. If only things could have been different... but it wasn't possible. At least she was now safe. She would be able to get a nice teaching job somewhere, where she would be safe from the upcoming war.  
  
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Lia cried out, appearing in he tower doorway. Snape sighed inwardly. He should have known that Lia would come and find him.  
  
"Can I help you with something?" he replied, not taking his eyes away from where he had seen Alex.  
  
"Yeah, you can explain to me why you are up here and not trying to stop her from leaving." She stated moving to stand next to him. It was freezing up in the tower and Lia idly wished that she had brought a heavier cloak with her.  
  
"Stop her? Why would I stop her?" Snape question coldly.  
  
"Hm... maybe because you love her? Wow. There's a thought. Stopping the woman you love from leaving before you make the biggest mistake of your life?!" she shot back, her voice heavy with sarcasm.  
  
"Haven't you heard the rumors, Lia? I am incapable of love." Snape sneered, his hands clenched tightly into fists. He had, in fact, already made the biggest mistake of his life already. Joining side with Voldemort and now he was still paying for his transgressions.  
  
"Oh shut your mouth! You and I both know that that's not true. If this is an attempt at being unselfish for once, you have definitely picked the wrong time to do it."  
  
"You have no idea what you are talking about." He frowned.  
  
"Actually I think I know more then you think I do. That necklace, for instance, you didn't tell Alex that the charm actually contains a very powerful protection charm. So why the unselfishness, Severus?" Lia asked rather arrogantly. Being married to Sirius was starting to rub off on her.  
  
"This is not an act of unselfishness. In fact, it is the complete opposite. I am being selfish because I want to keep her safe and by pushing her away, I am. I refuse to let her get hurt because of me and I know that if she is back over in the States, Voldemort will not gain any knowledge of her. And I won't have to have any added guilt on my shoulders." Why was he confiding in her? He didn't know but it felt good to say everything he was holding in, out loud.  
  
"Are you so thick that you don't think that Voldemort isn't going to invade the United States as well as England. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he already has followers over there now! Alex is a powerful witch and is going to catch attention whither she is there or here in England. Severus, you can't protect her." Lia argued. When he refused to respond, she continued on her tirade.  
  
"You know what? I think that you are just scared. Scared of taking a bloody chance, for once. You have locked yourself up in those dungeons for far too long and when finally someone gets through to you, you go and bloody mess everything up!"  
  
"You would do well to keep your mind on your own affairs, and bloody well stop sticking your nose in mine." Snape growled and then stormed from the tower back down to the dungeons, her words still ringing in his ears.  
  
THE END! Or not...Read the sequal, Hiding in a Lie to see what happens next!!! 


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